Newly formed Georgia Classic Theatre aims to revive beloved time in Atlanta performance

The Atlanta theater community’s biggest revival of the year won’t be just a favorite old play or a cherished musical. Instead, it will be the planned resurrection of a long-beloved theater itself. 

The newly formed Georgia Classic Theatre, which held an inaugural fundraiser May 22 at Le Fais Do-Do in Forest Park, seeks to revive the spirit of Georgia Shakespeare, which operated at Oglethorpe University from 1985 until 2014. 

The new theater will feature many former artists from Georgia Shakespeare in future productions, said Allen O’Reilly, artistic director of Georgia Classic Theatre. Its first production will be Macbeth, which will be staged in the fall at Oglethorpe’s Conant Performing Arts Center for one weekend.

“It was such a special group of people and so many great years that really forged our careers,” O’Reilly said of Georgia Shakespeare in an interview. “People obviously miss it and want it back in some way, shape or form.”

O’Reilly and actor Teresa DeBerry both returned to Atlanta in late 2025 after 11 years working in Cleveland, Ohio, and Long Island, New York, respectively. Upon their return, they began discussing a way to resurrect Georgia Shakespeare with others interested in bringing it back, including Richard Garner, one of the original founders.

O’Reilly expressed the notion of staging shows on a “soft rollout” using Actors Equity performers on a theater authority contract — which allows for 25 hours of rehearsal and two performances only of a show without having to meet all the requirements of a full Equity contract.

Thus, veteran Georgia Shakespeare performers could be involved in a brief run of Macbeth directed by Elisa Carlson. The announced cast for the fall show includes Daniel Thomas May, Courtney Patterson, Tess Malis Kincaid, Mark Kincaid, Kyle Brumley, Rob Cleveland, Mary Lynn Owen, Carolyn Cook, Justin Walker, Bethany Anne Lind and more.

“This show is for the love, frankly, of getting the group back together again,” O’Reilly said. “It’s an amazing cast.”

O’Reilly explained that Macbeth will follow in the model of past Georgia Shakespeare productions. Instead of adhering to “original practice,” thus staged in a method akin to the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare’s work originated, this new production will be in modern dress.

“I do want to retain a semblance of what Artistic Director Richard Garner once said to me that really stuck,” O’Reilly said. “He said, ‘If you can do a Shakespeare production in Armani as well as armor, choose Armani.”’

To help launch the new endeavor, O’Reilly reached out to Marie Andujar, the owner-operator of Le Fais-Do-Do, who produced and directed many of the Georgia Shakespeare performances for younger audiences in schools around Atlanta. He said Andujar is a person who knows how to get things done.

“I’m so stoked,” Andujar said. 

She said the future of Georgia Classic Theatre will likely include shows for all audiences, educational programming and other shows from the theatrical classics canon — not just shows by the Bard.

A board of directors has been organized, and the nonprofit has been registered with the state.

The initial fundraiser event on May 22 featured notable actors performing Shakespeare’s scenes and sonnets, musical cabaret performed by Kathleen McManus, a tribute to late actor Chris Kayser and an auction led by Cleveland. Through ticket sales and donations, it raised nearly $20,000, according to O’Reilly and Andujar. 

Performer Eugene H. Russell IV said in a message that he was thrilled by the possible resurrection of Georgia Shakespeare through Georgia Classic Theatre.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” he said. “In 2005, Richard Garner gave me my first shot at a professional Shakespeare production when he cast me as Romeo. Georgia Shakespeare allowed people who look like me and with similar backgrounds to come not only as the artists we are but the people we are. That show began a streak of years with the company, some of the most joyful moments of my career.”

Tess Malis Kincaid, who also performed at the fundraiser, echoed the sentiment.

“I’m hopeful that Georgia Classic Theatre will be a successful new addition to the Atlanta cultural landscape,” she wrote in a statement. “I’m grateful to Allen for taking on the challenge. I was fortunate to have been a part of eight seasons at Georgia Shakespeare, where I worked with an ensemble of crazy talented and collaborative artists performing in rep. I, along with many artists and audiences, have felt the profound loss of that company, and I look forward to seeing where this new venture goes.”

Visit the Georgia Classic Theatre Facebook page for more information.

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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.