Steve Yockey: “Mercury”

CRITIC’S PICK: The prolific playwright, producer and screenwriter Steve Yockey is bringing his latest dark comedy to the Actor’s Express stage. The production is by Melissa Foulger, who previously directed his plays Reykjavik, Pluto, and Wolves at AE. Yockey is best known as the developer of the television series The Flight Attendant as well as Supernatural, Doom Patrol and the upcoming Dead Boy Detectives. “His trademark combo of hilarity and horror remains gloriously intact,” wrote Terry Morgan in Stage Raw while reviewing the new play. The dramatis personae lists seven Atlanta actors, including Actor’s Express veterans Carolyn Cook and Kate Donadio as well as former apprentice Tyshawn Gooden. Making their debuts at the theater are Suehyla E. Young, Louis Kyper, and local newcomer Donna Lobello. Artistic Director Freddie Ashley praised the play’s “savage humor and cool theatricality” and added that it “manages to be funny, suspenseful, and a little bit unexpected all at the same time.” — Kevin C. Madigan