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Stage Standouts
UNCANNY VALLEY, 1776 AND MORE UPCOMING IN LOCAL THEATER
By Dina Canup arts@flagpole.com
Uncanny Valley If you love “Battlestar
Galactica,” Ex Machina, “Star Trek,” Rossum’s
Universal Robots or Isaac Asimov, this is
the show for you. A pioneer in the field of
robotics trains her creation in the ability to
seem human, and does it well. Why? Does
she have the right to create life? How will
that new life affect her? What is the dif
ference between artificial intelligence and
human consciousness, and how do we navi
gate that uncanny valley between the two?
Directed by David Saltz, a cutting-edge
researcher of the intersection between
robotics and theater, and starring two grad
uate actors (Katie Butcher and Larry Cox
Jr.) who appeared in the spring hit Sweeney
Todd, this one is sure to be a think piece for
lovers of theater who enjoy the rare chance
to mix both science fiction and philosophy
into the dramatic mix.
Uncanny Valley, by Thomas Gibbons,
is presented by University Theatre in the
Cellar Theatre of the Fine Arts Building
from Thursday, Sept. 22-Saturday, Sept. 24
and Tuesday, Sept. 27-Friday, Sept. 30 at 8
p.m., with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday,
Oct. 2. Tickets are $12-$16 and available at
706-542-4400 or drama.uga.edu.
Cotton Patch Gospel This Georgia-born
musical retells the story of Jesus of
Nazareth with a 20th Century rural Georgia
twist. Jesus (Tery Overby) is born in
Gainesville, raised in Valdosta and sets his
sights on Atlanta, while his buddy Jud (Joe
Costello) is destined to betray him.
Based on the Clarence Jordan book The
Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John,
the show has charming music with an occa
sional punch; the setting is changed from
Roman crucifixion to a Georgia lynching,
and from a murder of innocents to a bomb
thrown into a Southern church nursery.
You’ve had chances to see both Godspell and
Jesus Christ, Superstar in the area in recent
years, so here’s a rare chance to see the
Southern musical passion play.
Cotton Patch Gospel, by Tom Key, Russell
Treyz and Harry Chapin, is presented by
Winder-Barrow Community Theatre in the
Colleen O. Williams Theater on Friday, Sept.
23 and Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m.,
with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Sept. 25.
Tickets are $10 and available at 770-867-
3106. For more information, visit winder-
barrowtheatre.org.
1776 The much-loved, Tony Award-winning
musical that debuted in 1969, made it to
the silver screen in 1972 and inspired the
current Broadway hit Hamilton is a perfect
choice for the month leading up to the most
surreal and depressing presidential election
many of us can remember. It has musical
numbers that are pure delight with plenty
of laughs and, as the Hollywood Reporter
wrote of a recent Encores! production at
New York City Center: “The marvel of this
show is how it manages to keep us in sus
pense even though its outcome is known
to all. That it does so is a testament to the
superb writing, which features generous
doses of humor.”
All this and another fantastic cast
of T8iG’s best, including Drew Doss as
John Adams, Dustin Ahkuoi as Benjamin
Franklin, Joshua Darnell as Richard Henry
Lee, Sam Hopkins as Edward Rutledge,
Andrew Rabanal as Thomas Jefferson, John
Flesch as John Dickinson and Amy Miller
as Abigail Adams, plus many more you
won’t want to miss. Furthermore, if you get
caught up in the patriotic fervor, you can
even register to vote at the theater during
the first weekend of the run.
1776, by Peter Stone and Sherman
Edwards, is presented by Town & Gown
Players at the Athens Community
Theatre Friday, Oct. 7-Saturday, Oct. 8
and Thursday, Oct. 13-Saturday, Oct. 15
at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees
Oct. 9 and Oct. 16. Tickets are $10-$18
and available at 706-208-2696 or
to wnandgo wnplayers. org.
The Skin of Our Teeth If the events of
2016 have you feeling like it’s the end of
the world, you’re not the only one. The
Antrobus family is facing just that, over and
over again, in this absurd Thornton Wilder
classic. Paterfamilias George (Marlon
Burnley) invents the alphabet, the wheel
and infidelity. His wife Maggie (Taylor
Wood) keeps the family and the world
together. Squabbly kids Gladys and Henry
(Crystal Le and Russell Scott) add to the
drama and the comedy, while sexy maid
Sabina (Anna Pieri) has a lot to say about
all of it. Not only does this family break out
of time, they break the fourth wall into tiny
pieces by taking the action
out of the theater space
entirely at times, so be sure
to wear comfortable shoes.
The Skin of Our Teeth,
by Thornton Wilder, is
presented by University
Theatre in the Cellar
Theatre of the Fine Arts
Building Friday, Oct. 7-Sat-
urday, Oct. 8 and Tuesday,
Oct. 11-Friday, Oct. 14 at 8
p.m., with 2:30 p.m. Sunday
matinees on Oct. 9 and Oct.
16. Tickets are $7-$12 and
available at 706-542-4400
or drama.uga.edu.
ALSO COMING UP: UGA’s
Next Act Musical Theatre
Troupe will present a pop
cabaret, Reinvention, at
Hendershot’s Coffee Bar
on Wednesday, Sept. 21
at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 at
the door. Visit facebook.com/UGANextAct
for more information. “Haints and Saints
Historic Walking Tour: Legends of Law
and Order,” presented by Jefferson
Community Theatre, meets at the Crawford
Long Museum on Friday, Oct. 14 and
Saturday, Oct. 15 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Tickets (advance reservations required) are
$10-$15 and available at 706-367-5307.
Visit jeffersoncommunitytheatre.com for
more information. O
The Georgia Review’s
FALL LIT BALL
Book Fair & Issue-Release Bash
October
7-8
Readings,
Workshops,
Panels,
Book Fair,
Activities for Kids,
& More
7x7
421 Atlanta
Athens Word of Mouth
Avid Bookshop
Birds of Lace Press
Bloom Books & Jellyfish Magazine
Poet & Songwriter Claire Cronin
Deluge
Jellyfish Highway Press
Pulitzer Prize-winner Sharon Olds
Publishing Genius Press
Rabbit Box
Radioactive Moat Press
Ricky Simone: The Hip Hop Activist
Smokey Road Press
Stillpoint Literary Magazine
Poet & Artist Bianca Stone
Stacy Szymaszek & Simone White
of NYC's St Mark's Poetry Project
Tinkypuss
UGA Creative Writing Program
UGA MFA in Narrative Media
UGA Press
The Wanderer
This project is supported in part by an award from
the National Endowment for the Arts.
THEGEORGIAREVIEW.COM
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O
If you are in crisis due to domestic
violence; F. Neal Pylant D.M.D., P.C.
wants you to find help.
E Neal Pylant
■ - - * D.M.D., P.C.
If your partner objects when you use the phone,
limits your everyday contact with family and friends,
and you restrict yourself to avoid angry, aggressive
confrontations, you need to step back and take
another look. How can you cope once you are involved
with a controlling partner? Call Project Safe for help.
Our hotline is confidential, and counseling is free.
Get your life back. Get help.
706-543-3331
Hotline; 24 hours/day
Linea de crisis, las 24 horas del dia
12 FLAGPOLE.COM • SEPTEMBER 21,2016