NEXT! READINGS OF NEW WORKS BY REGIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS – Atlanta is Burning

Virtual Program
Atlanta is Burning by John Paul Porter

• • Directed by Gary Koutnik
  • Streaming Sunday, March 14
  •  Synopsis: Atlanta, 1864.  A young woman strikes a bargain to be a card dealer in a bordello.  As long as she wins at cards she does not have to do the other kind of work in the house.  The shrewd Madam is sure she will lose and the other women in the house resent the special status given the newcomer. In a flashback we meet the brilliant young man she met on the road, the one who taught her how to play cards.  We find out they parted under mysterious circumstances, he with a gunshot wound to his leg. On her first and last night at the bordello, men at the poker table are beguiled by her, compete for her, and the young man she knew on the road, the one she truly loves, surprises her by showing up.  All this as the Yankees are closing in to capture and burn the town.

The NEXT! play-reading series continues its mission to celebrate and inspire Central New York playwrights, as well as to introduce their work to a larger audience. Giving playwrights the ability to collaborate with local directors and performers, this series also welcomes the valuable feedback from the public which is critical to the development of any new work. Three plays  are selected each year on the basis of their literary and artistic merit, and are presented free to the public.