Arts Agenda: Theater

Each week, ArtsATL delivers a critic’s short list of the shows, exhibitions, concerts and events we recommend for the coming weeks within one discipline or venue type in the kaleidoscope of Atlanta arts and culture.

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Through September 27

City Springs Theatre Company’s Les Miserables, Atlanta’s first production of the musical in about a decade, is on stage at The Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs through September 27.

Italian American Reconciliation, from Academy Award-winning Moonstruck screenwriter John Patrick Shanley, is the latest production from Down Right Theatre at the Merely Players Presents space in Doraville. It continues through September 27.

Through October 11

The award-winning classic about the American Dream, August Wilson’s Fences, is at Theatrical Outfit September 16 through October 4. 

September 20-21

Blending elements of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 1782 novel with real French history, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (A Guillotine Play) is a harrowing portrait of gendered violence and the cost of a revolution without mercy. Belle Esprit’s production is at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern on September 20 and 21.

September 25-October 4

In a totalitarian state, a writer of dark fairy tales is brought in for questioning after a series of child murders bears a chilling resemblance to their stories in Martin McDonagh’s Pillowman. See it at Out of Box from September 25 though October 4.

October 1-4

Visit Theater Emory for This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, on stage for four performances at the Schwartz Center Theater Lab, October 1 through October 4. The run is followed by a local school tour in partnership with Alliance Theatre. 

October 1-25

See the world premiere of I Never Asked for a GoFundMe, a smart comedy blending Southern manners with queer culture. Directed by Lydia Fort, it’s at Actor’s Express October 1 through October 25. Check out our Ones to Watch feature for more about Fort and her directing work.

October 2-16

Hip-hop fans rejoice — Mexodus is at Alliance Theatre October 2 through October 16. This hip-hop-style musical is a timely study of freedom best enjoyed by ages 13 and up. 

October 2-11

Arís Theatre presents Harold Pinter’s classic play The Birthday Party at 7 Stages Back Space, opening on October 2 and running through October 11. Set in a rundown English seaside boarding house, Stanley is visited on his birthday by two mysterious guests who push him to the edge of sanity.

October 3-18

David Lindsay-Abaire’s Ripcord, in which a seemingly harmless bet between the old women quickly escalates into a dangerous game of one-upmanship, is at Stage Door Theatre from October 3 through October 18.

October 8

Words Before Clothes at PushPush Arts is a 50-minute live solo performance exploring why talking about sex and sexuality is often harder than experiencing them. The show had its first public performances in Toronto but comes home for its Atlanta premiere on October  8.

October 8-November 15

In Alliance Theatre’s Like Father, a coming-of-age musical set against America’s true-crime obsession, a podcast exposes a family’s disturbing past. They are forced to face the truth of what brought them together or risk being undone by its consequences. The show opens on October 8 and continues through November 15.

October 11

We all show, share and process our emotions in different ways. A co-production of the Alliance Theatre for the Very Young and the Marcus Autism Center, All Smiles is a sensory-friendly production that explores how every smile is unique. See it at the Marcus Jewish Community Center on October 11.

October 14 and 21

Synchronicity’s Stripped Bare series, taking place in the theater’s Piedmont Avenue annex, stages two productions this October: Crossroads & Cyphers on October 14 and Hannah & Greta, or the Cost of Livin’ The Dream, on October 21. 

October 22-November 7

Once Upon a One More Time weaves 23 of Britney Spears’ hits into a tale that involves a fairy godmother who gifts classic fairytale heroines with copies of The Feminine Mystique. See it at Out Front Theatre from October 22 through November 7.

October 28-November 1

Get into the spooky season spirit with Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of the Henry James classic The Turn of the Screw, on stage for one week only at Shakespeare Tavern, October 28 through November 1. 

November 7-29

A surprisingly modern tragedy about jealousy and revenge, Othello is at the Shakespeare Tavern from November 7 through November 29. 

November 12-22

Playwright Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love is part of Theater at Emory’s 2026-27 season and is on stage at Mary Gray Munroe Theater from November 12 through November 22.