"The Essential Theatre is proud to announce the two co-winners of the 2020 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award:"

THE WISHING PLACE

by Beverly Trader Austin

​

THE OUTRAGE MACHINE

by Daniel Carter Brown

​

This competition is now in its twentieth year.  

"The first winner was Lauren Gunderson, who has gone on to become the most produced playwright in America." 

​

-Peter Hardy

Bev is also currently working on commission in Nashville on a script about music city's "girl singers."  It's called Nashville Shadows, and the talent that producer Rick Gould has assembled is killer. 

India Tyree as Phoebe in Cakewalk.  

Photo by Casey Gardner.

Click below for a brief montage!

Cakewalk, recipient of a major grant from the Yip Harburg Foundation, was Bev's new musical chosen for The Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival at Atlanta's Out Front Theatre. Also, look for her annual sell-out production of The Bridesmaid of Barrington Hall in Roswell, Georgia.

​

Cakewalk

Set in 1918 Claxton, Georgia, Cakewalk is a satire, with a score rich in melodic joy. Meet the Clugston family, led by patriarch Commissioner John Clugston, successful fruitcake  manufacturer, whose heated race for mayor is complicated by the unfortunate behavior of his family and servants.
 
Clugston’s smart and insightful servant, Phoebe, pulls back the curtain on this mess of a family! There are scandalous surprises, philandering politicians, corrupt businessmen, calculating metrosexuals, and entitled young people. The women are addicted to liquor, boys, and the fashion of the moment. And everyone has a secret, each of which threatens to explode with devastating political consequences.
 
It’s uncanny how the Clugstons of 1918 Georgia bear a disturbing resemblance to 2018 America.

Ben Thorpe and Amber Hamilton in Cakewalk.

Trevor Goble, David Huenergardt, India Tyree, and Ben Thorpe in Cakewalk.

Photo by Casey M. Gardner.