Downtown Dialogues

Downtown Dialogues is a live video podcast hosted by arts journalist Gail O’Neill in which Gail will talk to experts & special guests about different plays and their themes produced by Theatrical Outfit - Atlanta's Downtown Theatre.  

GUESTS include Mashama Bailey (Chef & Co-founder of THE GREY), Latria Graham (Writer & Editor Focused On African American Southern Cooking), Zora Howard (Playwright of STEW), Ibi Owolabi (Director of STEW).  

Music Credit: Raro Bueno by Chuzauzen & Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund  

About STEW: In Zora Howard’s STEW, Mama is up early to prepare an important meal and, even with her family on hand to help, time is running short. In between cutting celery, garlic, and red peppers, tense secrets are revealed among the three generations of black women. This beautiful and powerful play celebrates the joys and complexities of family life and how to balance old grievances and new revelations with making sure dinner is ready on time.

Downtown Dialogues is a live video podcast hosted by arts journalist Gail O’Neill in which Gail will talk to experts & special guests about different plays and their themes produced by Theatrical Outfit - Atlanta's Downtown Theatre.

GUESTS include Hank Kimmel (Mediator / Playwright), January Lavoy (Director of Eureka Day / Emory University College of Arts and Sciences Professor), Dr. Saad B. Omer (Vaccine Specialist / Dir. Yale Institute for Global Health), and Jonathan Spector (Playwright of Eureka Day).

Music Credit: Raro Bueno by Chuzauzen & Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund

About EUREKA DAY: At Eureka Day Charter School in Berkeley, all decisions are made by consensus and diversity of opinion is valued. But when a mumps outbreak hits the school, the board of parent-directors find themselves confronting one of the central questions of our time: how do you find consensus when you can’t agree on the facts? This achingly hilarious comedy of manners shows just how thorny conversations about vaccination can be.

Downtown Dialogues is a live video podcast hosted by arts journalist Gail O’Neill in which Gail will talk to experts & special guests about different plays and their themes produced by Theatrical Outfit - Atlanta's Downtown Theatre.

GUESTS include Keisha Brown (WNBA Veteran / The Galloway School Varsity Basketball Coach / Sports Color Analyst), Candrice Jones (Playwright of FLEX), Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (Director of FLEX / BOLD Artistic Director Fellow at Alliance Theatre), and Rose Scott (Host of WABE's A CLOSER LOOK / Former Sports Radio Host).

Music Credit: Raro Bueno by Chuzauzen & Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund

About FLEX: A powerful new play about swagger, determination and sticking together. It’s 1997 and the WNBA is changing the game. Every player on Plainnole’s Lady Train basketball team now dreams of going pro — but first, they’ll have to navigate the pressures of being young, black and female in rural Arkansas. Candrice Jones’s adrenaline packed play about a high school basketball team explores the fierce strength of young black women in the South and what it means to be part of a team.

Downtown Dialogues is a live video podcast hosted by arts journalist Gail O’Neill in which Gail will talk to experts & special guests about different plays and their themes produced by Theatrical Outfit - Atlanta's Downtown Theatre. 

GUESTS include Susan V Booth (Director of THE CHILDREN / Artistic Director of Alliance Theatre), Pam Longobardi (Visual Artist / GSU Professor Focused On The Impact of Global Consumption of Plastic), and Paul Root Wolpe (Director of Emory University’s Center for Ethics). 

Music Credit: Raro Bueno by Chuzauzen & Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund 

About THE CHILDREN: THE CHILDREN takes place in a cottage on the east coast of England, near a nuclear power station that has recently been destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami (similar to the Fukushima disaster).  The disaster site is contaminating the surrounding countryside, and is threatening to leak into the sea.  The cottage belongs to two retired nuclear engineers in their sixties, Hazel and Robin who are living as healthily as possible to try and prolong their lives. When Rose, an old friend and former colleague at the power station, suddenly re-enters their lives after 38 years, the couple is forced to confront their past. Robin and Rose’s affair rises to the surface, as well as each of their illnesses, and Hazel’s obsession with remaining healthy causes tension. Rose then reveals the reason for her visit: she wants them all to join a group of older scientists and engineers who will return to the power station to relieve the duties of the young clean-up crew, many of whom have young families and are at the beginning of their lives. Robin, who has already been venturing into the exclusion zone, quickly agrees, but Hazel initially refuses, saying her responsibility is to live for her children and grandchildren, but it is unclear what path she will follow. The play asks questions about the responsibility of an older generation to those that follow, and explores where personal rights end and societal obligations begin.