Theatrical Outfit will Bring an Exciting and Diverse Season that Reflects the City of Atlanta

The Royale. Pictured: Garrett Turner, Brian Kurlander, Marlon Andrew Burnley.

Photo by Casey Gardner Photography.

September 2020 kicks off not only a smart, authentic, and vital new season at Theatrical Outfit (TO), it also starts a new era as Matt Torney becomes the new Artistic Director — taking the reins from Tom Key after a 25-year legacy. TO is deeply invested in how theatre can strengthen Atlanta’s communities by starting urgent, exciting, and profound conversations, by celebrating the power of live art to bring people together, and by recognizing that an active and vibrant culture helps make a better future.

Matt Torney

. Photo by Jerry Siegel Photography

The new season features 6 Awardwinning plays. Opening the season, Torney will direct the daring Outer Critics Circle Award winning satire Admissions by Joshua Harmon. Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, will take to the stage next rearranging TO in a bold new way. The holidays will see a hilarious mystery for the whole family with Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig. The New Year will get off to a rocking start with the Drama Desk Award winning musical Passing Strange — book and lyrics by Stew with music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. Next, Tom Key will return to the TO stage in a role like you have never seen him in before in the haunting Tony Award winning drama The Humans by Stephen Karam. Finally, the season will conclude with a powerful partnership with Theatre J in Washington DC on a co-production of Fires In The Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities by Anna Deavere Smith.

“When selecting plays for my first season I asked three questions: Will audiences love this story? Will this play shine in the Balzer Theater? And does the play start ‘a conversation that matters?’ For each of this season’s plays the answer is a resounding YES,” says Torney. “The work is theatrically daring, offers an extraordinary showcase for talented Atlanta artists, and speaks powerfully to the present moment. Additionally, I am thrilled to bring Theatrical Outfit to Washington DC for the first time with a co-production of a masterpiece of Documentary Theatre with Theatre J. This season has the potential to make a huge impact, and I can’t wait to welcome you to Luckie Street to get the conversation started.”