By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

As evidenced by last week's Weekend section, fall can be considered festival season, but it also can be considered theater season as many local theater groups are launching big things for the last season of the century.

There is a plethora of talent involved in local theater and as the region continues to grow, the theater scene will grow as well.

Fayette Community Theater has a busy fall ahead as the group will present “Mother Goose's Fairyland Follies” as well as conducting classes throughout the rest of the year. “Mother Goose's Fairyland Follies” tells the farcical tale of what happens to your favorite fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters after being all jumbled up. The play will be performed at Peachtree City Elementary School Oct. 15-17 and Oct. 22-24. Call Tammy at 770-599-0051.

Fayette Community Theater also will offer a class at the Peachtree City library this Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The class is called “Let's Create a Day at the Circus.” The workshop includes aspects of storytelling, drama and arts and crafts and is open to children 5-8. The cost is $30. For information, call 770-251-7611.

Another local theater group that is always keeping busy is Offshoot Productions. The group will host its first Stars on the Southern Crescent coffeehouse of the season this Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. The coffeehouse will feature local humor columnist/comedian/musician Billy Murphy, storyteller Barbara Bagriani, singer Selene McCarthy and a spoken word performance from Chris Snell and Collin Kelly. Also, Offshoot will have auditions in November for two plays, “Scotland Road” and “Beanie and the Bamboozling Book Machine.” The audition dates have not been set yet.

Workshops also will be offered for people of all ages. There are two workshops scheduled for children 6-10 Oct. 9 and 17. The first workshop is called Stage Basics for the Young Performer, giving the young actor the who, what and where of acting through improvisation and theater games. The second one is called Learning how to Create a Character. The participants will create memorable characters through unscripted scenes. Both classes will be 2 - 4 p.m. at the Peachtree City library at a cost of $12 per class.

The next two sets of classes will be Nov. 6 and 7 and Dec. 4 and 5. The November classes are called Developing Characters through Improvisation and Voice and Movement. They will be offered for children 11-15 and will cost $18 per class. The Saturday class runs 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. and the Sunday class runs 3 - 6 p.m. The classes will be at the Peachtree City Library.

The December classes are for ages 15 and up. They are called Comic Improv I and Comic Improv II. Comic Improv I runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, while Comic Improv II runs 2 - 5 p.m. Sunday. Each workshop costs $18. For information on Offshoot Productions, call 770-631-2362 or e-mail to offshootpr@aol.com

There are also some good theater groups in neighboring counties. The Southside Theater Guild in Fairburn has been around the longest. For 27 years, the group, entirely staffed by volunteers, has performed musicals as well as classic works of comedy and drama. They will perform “On Golden Pond” this weekend and next at 8 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for children.

STG also will have auditions for a production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” at the theater tonight at 7:30 p.m. The group is seeking six adult females and 20 adult males. The show will be performed the last two weekends in November and the first weekend in December. If you are interested in auditioning or helping out the production in a technical capacity, call 770-969-0956.

The largest, at least once the move into a new complex is completed, is the Newnan Community Theater. The complex, expected to be habitable by early next year, is made up of three buildings and has about 25,000 square feet of space. That is bigger than some of the larger complexes in Atlanta. After the building is ready, the theater will have a children's theater with performances and workshops specifically for children.

There also will be adult acting and scenery classes and many other programs as the possibilities are endless. There will be a full season in 2000, including five main company productions, the continuation of the troup's murder mystery series, and much, much more.

Known for taking chances and staging some brilliant pieces of modern theater, NCT will once again stage a relatively new play in October. The play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” was written by comedian Steve Martin. The show deals with Picasso and Einstein, both in their 20s, discussing many things at an art museum in Paris. The show will run Oct. 8 - 23 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Friday and Satuday shows begin at 8 p.m. and at 2:30 p.m. Sundays.

In December, NCT will once again stage “A Christmas Carol,” which is cast with many non-professional people from the area. Auditions will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 and 19. The show will run Dec. 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19 and 20 in the new complex. For information about the Newnan Community Group, call 770-251-4848.

That should give you just a taste of what is headed to the local stages this fall, and that excluded everything that will happen in Atlanta. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open and you will be pleasantly surprised with what can be offered to you in the way of theater.

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