September 16, 2026
A Week of Endings and Beginnings
Welcome to the first edition of The Suzi Scene, a new look at the productions, artists, ideas, and conversations shaping Atlanta professional theatre.
This week, three Suzi Recommended productions approach their final performances, a world premiere opens at True Colors Theatre Company, and another production advances to full-panel Suzi consideration.
Final Chances
Three Suzi Recommended productions conclude their runs this weekend.
Purpose at Alliance Theatre runs through Sunday, September 20. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning family drama is directed by Keith Arthur Bolden.
Holy Chicken Sandwich at Horizon Theatre Company runs through Saturday, September 19. Atlanta playwright Kira Rockwell’s fast-paced comedy about devotion, identity, and a fictional fast-food grand opening is directed by Lisa Adler.
Parade at The Strand Theatre also reaches its final performances this weekend.
Opening This Week
Tank Stranger at True Colors Theatre Company
A new play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames opens Friday, September 18, at the Southwest Arts Center.
Directed by Jamil Jude, Tank Stranger brings generations of the Stranger family together as long-buried truths begin to surface. The world premiere blends Afrofuturism, Black folklore, family history, and theatrical storytelling.
Performances continue through October 4.
Also Opening This Week
- The Wizard of Oz opens September 17 at the Center for Puppetry Arts, bringing the classic journey to life through puppetry.
- August Wilson’s Fences begins September 16 at Theatrical Outfit’s Balzer Theater, launching a three-theatre revival of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama.
- A MEAL runs September 17–19 at 7 Stages, combining ritual, installation, performance, and a shared cooking experience.
What Else Is Playing?
The Suzi Theatre Bulletin provides complete weekly listings and direct links to production and ticket information from professional theatres across the metro area.
Newly Suzi Recommended
Measure for Measure
Atlanta Shakespeare Company’s production of Measure for Measure is Suzi Recommended.
Shakespeare’s provocative comedy examines power, justice, hypocrisy, and mercy. The production continues at the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse through September 27.
Suzi Recommended means that Opening Weekend judges determined that the production contains work meriting evaluation by the full judging panel. It is not a nomination or simply a judgment of the production as a whole.
Essays & Perspectives
The Judging Process
Ever wonder how a production goes from opening night to a Suzi nomination?
Judging begins during a production’s opening weekend. Judges from the appropriate panel attend independently and evaluate eligible elements using the Suzi Bass Awards Judges’ Scoring Rubric. They may not discuss the production with one another before submitting their scores and recommendation votes.
Each Opening Weekend judge also votes Yes or No on whether the production should become Suzi Recommended and receive full-panel consideration. A judge may vote Yes based on the strength of the production as a whole — or because even a single eligible element deserves further consideration.
That distinction is important. A judge’s Yes vote is not simply a thumbs-up or thumbs-down judgment of the entire production. It means the production contains work that the judge believes merits further evaluation.
Only Suzi Recommended productions proceed to full-panel judging. Judges from the appropriate panel then attend additional performances and independently score the eligible elements. Productions eligible for World Premiere or Social Justice recognition are also evaluated by their respective specialized panels.
At the end of the season, each panel meets to determine the nominees. Cumulative average scores provide the starting point, but nominations are not determined simply by a mathematical ranking. Judges discuss the eligible work, consider the cumulative evaluations and differing artistic perspectives, and then determine the nominees in each category.
A moderator facilitates the discussion and ensures that differing viewpoints can be heard, but, unless also serving as a judge on the panel, does not offer artistic opinions or advocate for or against a potential nominee.
The nominees then move to the Final Ballot. Judges may vote in each category in which they have seen at least 80 percent of the nominees, and those ballots determine the award recipients.
Panel deliberations, individual scores, and ballots are confidential.
Throughout the process, one principle remains constant: every judge is responsible for their own artistic evaluation. Discussion can inform judgment, but no one may direct or improperly influence another judge’s scores, recommendations, nominations, or votes.
The goal is not uniformity of opinion. It is independent judgment, informed discussion, respectful disagreement, and fair consideration of the work.
Around the Theatre Community
Classical Theatre—and the Questions It Still Asks
On Tuesday evening, the Suzi Bass Awards brought theatre artists, judges, scholars, and audience members together at Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum for Holding a Mirror to Classical Theater.
David van Schoor and Park Krausen explored the continuing influence of ancient drama and the questions classical theatre still asks about power, identity, community, and ourselves.
Approximately 70 people attended the salon, including a strong gathering of Suzi judges and members of Atlanta’s theatre community.
A recording of the conversation will be shared through the Carlos Museum’s YouTube channel when it becomes available.
From the Suzis
Tickets Are Now on Sale
Join Atlanta’s theatre community for the 2026 Suzi Bass Awards on Monday, November 16, at Oglethorpe University’s Conant Performing Arts Center.
- Reception: 6:00 p.m.
- Ceremony: 7:00 p.m.
- Tickets: $25, including the reception and two drink tickets
- Dress code: Suzi Chic
The Suzi Scene is produced by the Suzi Bass Awards as a guide to Atlanta professional theatre.