The Young Man From Atlanta : Special PFLAG Panel and Discount

On Friday, February 11, Theatrical Outfit invites you to a talk-back following the 7:30 pm performance of Horton Foote’s searing drama The Young Man From Atlanta (its Atlanta premiere).

During the audience Q&A, cast members and a panel of PFLAG members will examine the themes in The Young Man From Atlanta which subtly yet powerfully explore a flawed 1950-era Houston couple, The Kidders, who each wrestle not only with the death of their only son Bill—was it suicide or an accident?—but also with his life and true identity. How they differ in digesting the nature of Bill’s relationship with his roommate and friend from Atlanta becomes their unspeakable division. How can two people be such strangers to their only child? Tom Key stars as Will Kidder, Marianne Hammock as his wife Lily Dale; Jessica Phelps West directs.

Please join us for what promises to be an insightful conversation. For the Feb. 11^th show, PFLAG members receive a special offer of $20 tickets ($10 off the regular ticket price). You may call the box office at 678.528.1500 or purchase tickets online.

*In order to receive this special ticket price you must click on this link:

https://www.choicesecure03.net/mainapp/eventschedule.aspx?Clientid=TheatricalOutfit&promo=17

(* After you choose the Feb. 11 date and desired seats, at the Order Summary page change the ticket price for each ticket using the drop down arrow. If you do not change the ticket price, you will be charged full price. All internet sales are final. This offer is subject to availability and is only good for the Feb. 11^th performance.)

Playwright Horton Foote, who is well known for his screenplays for the films To Kill A Mockingbird, Tender Mercies, and The Trip To Bountiful, has been called an American Chekhov, and he does not shy away from sensitive and contemporary issues—dishonesty and deception, suicide and death, race relations and the Civil Rights Movement, grief, religious faith, homosexuality, and the end of the American Dream. In The Young Man From Atlanta, Foote leaves much unsaid, which many believe is its greatest strength.

We hope you will be part of the conversation. After seeing the show recently, one audience member remarked, “You have made the undiscussable, discussable.” Our purpose at Theatrical Outfit is to provide our diverse audiences, actors and artists with a rich theater experience and produce works that stimulate thoughtful discussion.

Read what Executive Artistic Director Tom Key says of The Young Man From Atlanta:

That it has taken sixteen years for Foote’s 1995 Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play to make its Atlanta debut is intriguing. Why this wait? I believe there may be a readiness now to hear this story that may not have existed earlier. The Kidders’ failings might be excused or explained in hindsight by the reasoning that it was true for people of that time and place. Their sense of civic responsibility and their assumptions regarding gender roles aren’t convictable crimes, but they have tragic circumstances nonetheless.

As we open this production, events have occurred in 2010 that are relevant to this 1950 story. The military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been repealed. Pastor Jim Swilley of Atlanta’s The Church of the Now has openly stated that he is gay, in hopes of breaking the cycle of suicides by young people unable to live with their homosexuality. Celebrities and political leaders have joined the national media campaign “It Gets Better” to address bullying and abuse directed at young people as a result of their sexuality. We are very gratified to be presenting this play on our stage.

The show just opened this past Saturday, but already theater critics are praising Theatrical Outfit’s production of The Young Man From Atlanta. To read more, visit these links:

(Bob Heller’s review)

http://ArtsCriticAtl.com (Arts & Theater link for David Lee Simmons’ review)

We look forward to seeing you at the theater, especially the evening of Feb. 11. Curtain is at 7:30 pm. Theatrical Outfit is located at 84 Luckie St., in downtown Atlanta. For more information, visit www.theatricaloutfit.org. or call 678.528.1500.