The Jewish Theatre of the South's world premiere of "The Left Hand Singing" marked a moving return to form for BARBARA LEBOW, one of Atlanta's most celebrated playwrights. With her new play, Lebow offers rich portraits of Civil Rights activists before their murder, and the complex relationships of their grieving parents over the subsequent decades. Lebow has been MIA from Atlanta's stages for the past few years, but "The Left Hand Singing" confirms that she's a talent to be valued. less...

Until his recent move to Asheville, N.C., Griffin was a regular player at Dad's Garage and one of its most creative writers, in 1999 debuting Acting, Schmacting, a one-man show that's equally quick-change comedy and pseudo-autobiographical monologue. This year he penned Whiskey-Soaked Lover, a honky-tonk romance steeped in the lore of Hank Williams. Next spring will see Griffin's humor take a turn to the absurd with Zurich Plays, his Dadaist history of the Dada movement (written with Marc Cram). less...

Now is not just the obvious time to salute the triumphs of Margaret Edson and her play Wit, which last year won the Pulitzer Prize and this spring saw a superb, if star-crossed, production at the Alliance Studio. This also might be the only time for honoring Edson, as the Midtown resident has no plans to write any more plays in the future. Judging from Wit's erudite emotionalism, that's not just a loss to Atlanta, but to contemporary drama itself. less...