Topher Payne | Official Site

ABOUT TOPHER

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:30:25 +0000

TOPHER PAYNE is the author of more than a dozen produced works for the stage, including LAKEBOTTOM PROPER at The Springer Opera House, TOKENS OF AFFECTION at Georgia Ensemble Theatre, ABOVE THE FOLD, which won the 2009 Metro Atlanta Theatre Awards for Best Original Work and Best Play of the Year, and THE MEDICINE SHOWDOWN (co-authored with Adam Koplan), which Creative Loafing selected as one of the Best Plays of the Decade.

A resident of Atlanta since 1999, Topher served as a Grand Marshal for the 2011 Atlanta Pride Parade, and has been honored with numerous distinctions by the community, including: Best Local Playwright (Creative Loafing Reader’s Choice, 2010 & 2011); Best Local Writer and Best Local Actor (GA Voice Reader’s Choice, 2010 & 2011); Artist of the Year (David Magazine 2011) ; Best Local Playwright (Sunday Paper, 2010); Best Actor (2011 Post & Alley Awards, for his performance in Proof.)

Topher’s acting career extends in two directions: His roles include David Frost in Frost/Nixon (Springer Opera House), Hal in Proof (OnStage Atlanta), Vince in Tape (Pinch n’ Ouch Theatre), Ludwig in Valhalla (Essential Theatre), Winston in The Credeaux Canvas (Atlanta Classical), and an appearance in the upcoming Universal Pictures release, Identity Thief, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. He is doubly blessed with a second career as a “male actress” (borrowing a term from Charles Busch). His roles in that arena include the title role in Auntie Mame, Latrelle in Sordid Lives, The Succubus in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Dorothy in Golden Girls Live, and his best-known work, three years of playing Julia Sugarbaker in Designing Women Live.

Topher is an artistic associate with Atlanta’s Pinch n’ Ouch Theatre and Onstage Atlanta, as well as Flying Carpet Theatre in New York. He is the Literary Manager of The Process Theatre, and The Executive Producer of the Atlanta 24-Hour Plays for Working Title Playwrights.

Upcoming projects include: The World Premieres of his plays EVELYN IN PURGATORY with Essential Theatre in July 2012, SWELL PARTY with Georgia Ensemble Theatre in January 2013, and LAKEBOTTOM PRIME with The Springer Opera House in May 2013.

Topher lives in a little brick house with a husband named Tommy, a beagle named Daisy, and a bunch of imaginary people asking him to tell their stories.

LAKE- BOTTOM PRIME

admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 02:25:40 +0000

A FARCE IN TWO ACTS——2 MEN, 5 WOMEN


It’s 1924, and the wedding of the year is being planned by the lake in Wildwood Park. Nothing will stop Priscilla Tuttle from crafting the perfect ceremony, although no one had prepared her for the second-class status reserved for the mother of the groom. Meanwhile, the bride’s mother is proving to be the embodiment of evil, all the bridesmaids have come down with malaria, Priscilla’s bachelor brother-in-law has joined forces with the maid to usurp her authority, and the city is beginning to drain the lake. But as the water level lowers, the anxiety rises: There’s a secret at the bottom of that lake, and the Tuttle family will do anything to keep it hidden. LAKEBOTTOM PRIME will premiere at The State Theatre of Georgia, The Springer Opera House, in May, 2013.

Culture Surfing: Tweets of the Week

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:23:13 +0000

Top 5 Tweets from ATL Comics this week: Time machine

Posted by Curt Holman on Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 9:23 AM

Whitney the singer dies, Whitney the sitcom lives. No justice in this world.
— Topher Payne (@topherpayne) February 12, 2012

I’ve learned more from Pawn Stars than any history class I’ve ever taken.Going to school in West Virginia may have played a part in that.
— Steph Swain (@Stepholumpagus) February 13, 2012

Watching the Westminster Dog and Cankle show.
— carlos valencia (@carlos_valencia) February 15, 2012

I’m not sure how to take the “by invitation” funeral, though I assume the deceased is hoping to be on the list wherever they’re headed.
— Punchline ComedyClub (@punchlinecomedy) February 16, 2012

Drinking with southerners is like getting in a time machine. Spoiler: you always go back to right before the civil rights movement.
— Mike Kaiser (@Mike_Kaiser_) February 12, 2012

DAVID MAGAZINE: Best of 2011

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:20:22 +0000

Best Gay Artist of 2011

Topher Payne

Author, playwright and actor; it seems like the only thing Topher Payne can’t do is consistently bring his domestically disturbed brand of comedy to Twitter. C’mon Topher, we know those 140-character jokes come all day long- SHARE! Topher can be seen through the weekend in Frost/Nixon playing at the Springer Opera House in Columbus, GA. It’s not that far y’all- especially to catch Topher.

Pure Politics Review: Frost/ Nixon

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:26:35 +0000

REVIEW: Frost/Nixon at The Springer Opera House

Written by Wilson Trivino, Pure Politics

Columbus, Georgia- In the era of ‘gotcha’ politics where the 24 hour news cycle centers on every imaginable aspect of our President, it’s hard to believe that one interview, the first for President Nixon after he resigned from the Presidency, would be so controversial.

In Frost/Nixon, now running at the Springer Opera House, the story centers on this first interview between the flamboyant British pretty boy David Frost (Topher Payne) and the complex introvert disgraced former President Richard Nixon (David Millstone).

What makes Frost/Nixon so interesting is that it takes you behind the scenes of the dramatic buildup. The two-act play starts right off after the moment Nixon resigns the Presidency and the events surrounding setting up these interview sessions.

In the interview sessions you experience the give and take between a lamb naive journalist Robert Frost and the experienced lion debater in Richard Nixon.

What brought these two characters together was timing and a need for both to reshape their images to the world.

What made these interviews more controversial was that at the time, in the 1970s, Nixon was paid and the show was marketed and sold way before the word “reality TV” existed.

Topher Payne is the standout of the cast as he captures the essence of the bigger-than-life but vulnerable David Frost.

As a student of politics, I enjoyed revisiting a much simpler time of our political history. It reiterates wise words from our founders, “if men were angels, no government would be necessary”.

Frost/Nixon is running at the State Theatre of Georgia, the Springer Opera House through February 4, 2012.

The Springer Opera House is a beautiful venue for a nostalgic trip back to an interesting dark period of our nation’s history.

Don’t miss a chance to see what the fuss was about in the Frost/Nixon interviews.

1-Minute Review: Frost/ Nixon

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:08:51 +0000

FROST/NIXON Interviews Come to Life

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:39:20 +0000

‘Frost/Nixon’ Interviews Come to Life on Springer stage

By SANDRA OKAMOTO

Richard Nixon was probably one of the most polarizing public figures of the last century. Disgraced as president and forced to leave the White House, Nixon was the first president to resign from office in 1974.Three years after leaving the White House, Nixon, who had not done a television interview since leaving office, decided he needed to remake his image and get some much-needed money (as much as $1 million).

So he reached out to British talk-show host David Frost, who was regarded as a light-weight entertainment reporter. Nixon figured Frost would only ask easy questions.

For Frost, the interview was a big-time “get” and an opportunity to refine his image.

So in 1977, the two men taped 29 hours of interviews that would be used for four, 90 minute shows.

Playwright Peter Morgan wrote “Frost/Nixon,” which opens today at the Springer Opera House, based on this interviewing saga.

His play was a hit on Broadway and became a highly acclaimed movie that was released in 2008, starring Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost. The two actors also played those roles on Broadway.

When rehearsals began at the Springer, Springer Opera House artistic director Paul Pierce, who directs the play, told Topher Payne, who plays Frost and David Millstone, who plays Nixon, not to do caricatures of the men.

“Paul said he did not want Frost or Nixon impersonators,” Payne said. To get Frost’s British accent, Payne worked with a dialect coach in Atlanta. He and Millstone watched the DVDs of the actual interviews to get the mannerisms and voices right.

“I think we’ve captured the essence of Frost and Nixon,” Payne said.

It is not a two-man show. Among the characters are Mike Wallace (played by retired Columbus State University theater professor Neal Fenter), who is not happy that Nixon didn’t choose him to conduct the interviews on “60 Minutes,” and Swifty Lazar (also played by Fenter), a Hollywood talent agent who represented actors and authors. In 1977, Lazar represented Nixon.

Others characters include Frost’s producers, Jim Reston (Ron Anderson), John Birt (Cameron Bean) and Bob Zelnick (Jim Pharr). Nixon also had his advisor, Jack Brennan (Chris Graham) and Manolo Sanchez (Ruben Colon) with him.

To add a feminine touch, playwright Morgan added two women to the cast. One, Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong, is used to show the type of show Frost was doing. The other is Caroline Cushing, a British journalist who was Frost’s girlfriend.

“This is a fantastic cast,” Pierce said. He calls the play a type of “story theater.” Reston and Brennan act as narrators.

For young people, including several in the cast, who had never heard of these interviews and what was going on in the 1970s, Pierce said the two narrators really help.

“Without the narrators, people might be lost,” he said.

The scope of the Nixon story is Shakespearean, said both Millstone and Pierce.

“The complexity of the Nixon and Frost characters are as strong as any Shakespearean character,” Pierce said.

Millstone compares Nixon to Titus in “Titus Andronicus.”

“They were both proud men who believed they were doing the right thing,” he said. “They had a deep sense of honor. The tragedy here is they stepped away from their own code of honor.”

What some people may not know is the the Nixon/Frost interviews were turned down by all of the networks, Pierce said.

That meant Frost had to personally contact every single television station to give up 90 minutes for four nights. Ultimately, between 45-50 million people saw the interviews.

Payne said the interview ultimately blurred the line between journalism and entertainment and became the first reality show.

What did each man get out of the interview?

Frost got his fervent wish to be taken seriously as an interviewer. He has since interviewed every American president and British prime minister.

Nixon gained an elder statesman status, becoming foreign policy advisor to presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

“This is a really exciting way to tell their stories,” Varner said.

CAST LIST

Richard Nixon: David Millstone has recently appeared in “The Woman in Black,” “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” “Titus Andronicus,” “One Was Nude and One Wore Tails” and “Fallen Angels.” At the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival, he was in “Twelfth Night,” Henry IV, Parts I and II” and “The Complete History of America (Abridged).” Later this year, he has roles in “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” “Twelfth Night,” “Duchess of Malfi” and “A Christmas Carol.” This is his first Springer Opera House role.

David Frost: Topher Payne wrote “Lakebottom Proper,” which premiered at the Springer last season. In 2008-09, he toured nationally with Springer Theatricals’ productions of “Greater Tuna” and “A Tuna Christmas.” He makes his home in Atlanta, where he serves as a company member of Pinch n’ Ouch Theatre and as an artistic associate at OnStage Atlanta.

James Reston: Ron Anderson is the Springer’s associate artistic director and is founder and director of the Springer Theater Academy. He has directed many Springer shows, including “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Father of the Bride,” “Man of La Mancha,” “My Fair Lady,” “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Cinderella.” He has played leading roles in “The Odd Couple,” “Cotton Patch Gospel,” “Macbeth,” “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” and “Of Mice and Men,” not to mention all the roles he plays in the “Tuna” plays. He has also directed most of the Springer Children’s Theater productions, including three of his adaptations of “Oliviatown,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer.”

Jack Brennan: Chris Graham is making his fourth appearance at the Springer. His last performance was as Hamlet in the 2008 production of the William Shakespeare classic. Previously, he was Tom in “The Glass Menagerie” and Picasso in “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”

Evonne Goolagong: Zoe Helke Pierce has been a Springer Theater Academy student for 10 years. She was in “Big River,” “Amazing Grace,” “Ragtime” and “A Christmas Carol.” She attends Columbus High School, where she is a sophomore and was cast in “Hairspray.”

John Birt: Cameron Bean received his bachelor’s degree in theater education and MBA from Columbus State University. Some of his favorite roles have been in “Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Mousetrap” and the roles he has played in Sherlock’s Mystery Dinner Theater. He sits on the board of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus and is the Springer’s director of development.

Manolo Sanchez: Ruben Colon is making his first appearance on the Springer stage.

Swifty Lazar: Neal Fenter retired as associate professor of theater at Columbus State University, but he continues to act and direct, as he has since 1961. He served as the Springer’s managing artistic director in 1984-85. He has directed “Lost in Yonkers” and “Brighton Beach Memories” at the Springer. His Springer appearances include “Inherit the Wind,” “I Ought to Be in Pictures,” “The King and I,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” “Macbeth,” “Art,” “The Drawer Boy,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “The Odd Couple” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Caroline Cushing: Helen Varner returned to Columbus a year ago. She performed in “The Wizard of Oz” and “Dracula.” In Atlanta, she was in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

Bob Zelnick: Jim Pharr works on the Springer staff as education assistant. He appeared at the Springer in “Barefoot in the Park” and “The Full Monty.” He has appeared in “Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business,” “Cloud 9,” “Machinal” and “Bat Boy: The Musical” at CSU, where he got his bachelor’s degree in theater education.

FROST/ NIXON: “Drama at its best”

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:47:47 +0000

From The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

by Susan Wolford

I had the honor of viewing the first dress rehearsal of “Frost/Nixon” at The Springer Opera House. I just wanted to share with your readers what an incredible play this is.

I grew up in England, so I am very familiar with the now Sir David Frost, who is still going strong today. I was young when the Frost-Nixon interviews took place, but I do remember news clips and the grownups talking about it. There were 80 or so hours of tapes in which David Frost, Richard Nixon and their respective suits were trying to outsmart each other. When on the final day of taping the charismatic David Frost, “the talk show host,” was able to entice some of the most powerful information in American history out of the former president.

This dynamic and compelling production has an equally powerful cast. Topher Nixon Payne, who some will remember as the playwright for “Lakebottom Proper,” does an incredible portrayal the world-famous David Frost and David Millstone, who hails from Philadelphia, does an expert portrayal of the blemished president, along with many other talented cast and crew, some of whom you will be familiar with. (One actor in particular will NOT be dressed as several women.)

You will also be blown away by the visual effects used during the performance. This drama opens Thursday, Jan. 26 and will run for only two weekends. I can assure that you won’t want to miss this dramatic portrayal of the interviews that brought out the long-awaited truth.

Arts Critic ATL Review: 40 Weeks

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:30:00 +0000

(Note: The Southeastern Premiere of 40 Weeks was directed by Topher Payne)

Review: “40 weeks” explores a pregnancy’s shake-up of a marriage

By Andrew Alexander

The title of the play “40 Weeks,” now at Onstage Atlanta through January 28, refers to 40 weeks of pregnancy, and as the play follows couple Mark (Geoff “Googie” Uterhardt) and Angie (Barbara Cole Uterhardt) over the said period, the show becomes far more than a cutesy dramatic version of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” It delves into deeper territory: the fragility and precariousness that can surface when new, unstable, radioactive elements are added to even the most stable relationships.

The lead actors, who are married in real life, are (perhaps unsurprisingly) compelling and convincing as the central couple. Mark is a writer: he’s unsure how the arrival of a baby will affect his professional ambitions, an area which is already the source of a great deal of self-doubt. Angie is still unable to let go of a past love, and though she’s supportive of Mark, she has trouble, despite her best efforts, sublimating the suspicion that she may have ended up with a loser, especially when an old friend arrives and seems determined to stoke the misgiving.

The supporting cast is especially strong here, and playwright Michael Henry Harris is smart to let a developing romance between two previously peripheral characters in the first act take a more prominent role in the second. Actors Bryan Brendle as Scott and Suehyla El-Attar as Molly have a relaxed, believable approach to portraying the sparring couple. Actress Michelle David plays a familiar role, the brassy co-worker with a heart of gold, but she brings so much originality and panache to the part that by the end, we feel she should have been on stage more. There was a baby shower at the end of Act One, and she wasn’t invited: perhaps she should have crashed.

Designer Travis George’s set is divided into different areas that show various locations in New York: apartment, office, balcony, subway car. During the first act, the characters seem too confined in the different realms: the five actors don’t interact enough in different ways in different places. In the second act, they’re shuffled around a bit more, and the pace of the play picks up almost immediately because of it. The opening of Act Two in which Molly and Scott share a morning after breakfast on a balcony (which wasn’t visited at all in the first act) is so funny, energetic and revealing we wonder why it took us so long to get there.

Somehow Mark and Angie’s cynical, initial agreement when they meet as strangers in an opening scene — they agree not to delve too deep — lingers over the action, making their later intimacy seem like a mutually agreed-upon construct. But their relationship, which is at risk, must seem thoroughly genuine for us to care, and it takes us a while to understand that their intimacy five years later is for real.

Michael Henry Harris is certainly a playwright to watch. “40 Weeks” is a first play that doesn’t feel like a first play, but somehow it still cleaves too closely to familiar, if successful, tropes. We audience members are well taken care of. Everything seems designed with us in mind: the recognizable and likable characters, the familiar New York setting, the capable pacing, the clearly limned dramatic arc, the flashes of smart comedy. One feels that the play might benefit from a few flashes of indifference on the part of the playwright toward us, that the author should perhaps go off to explore more individualistic territory without looking back at us so frequently to check for our approval. In the play, one of the insights that the character Molly has mastered (she knows it so well that it actually becomes a problem for her) is that a splash of indifference on one side of a romantic relationship can spark passion and interest on the other. As in love, so in art: Independence and strength of personality can arouse our curiosity more than the kindest attentions. Still, in the end, “40 Weeks” is a promising start to what one hopes is a long-term affair.

WLTZ Columbus: Frost/ Nixon

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:33:02 +0000

Nixon Argues He’s Not a Crook in “FROST/NIXON”

In 1977 Richard Nixon agreed to a series of interviews with TV talk show host David Frost.

Never before, nor since, has a United States president been so candid on camera.

The resulting 28 hours of interview footage was culled into five TV shows. The initial broadcast was viewed by more than 45 million people — the largest audience for a televised interview in history. This record still stands.

This historic interview is the basis of the gripping drama “Frost/Nixon” which will play at the Springer Jan. 26 – Feb. 4.

The stage version of this riveting story was a hit in London and New York in 2006-07 and was nominated for 15 theater awards.

The resulting movie version was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the 10 best movies of 2008, was nominated by both the Academy and Golden Globe awards as the best picture of the year, and made over $27 million.

At the time of the interviews, Frost’s talk show had been cancelled and he was largely regarded as a lightweight TV personality who was sliding into insignificance. Nixon was struggling to resurrect his legacy from the morass of the Watergate scandal and to convince the public that he was “not a crook.”

The interviews became a compelling drama with the two protagonists verbally jabbing and sparring like a couple of boxers searching for an opening to land a punch.

A cast of 10 helps recreate the historic milieu of the 1970s from tennis great Evonne Goolagong to journalist James Reston.

Playing Nixon will be Springer newcomer David Millstone. Originally from Portland, Ore., Millstone studied acting at the University of Houston. He acted for the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival for two years before moving to Philadelphia where he regularly works and also appears in regional and New York theaters.

Topher Payne returns to the State Theatre of Georgia after his comedy “Lakebottom Proper” premiered here last spring. Payne first worked for the Springer as one of the two actors in their touring productions of “Greater Tuna” and “A Tuna Christmas.” He is author of more than a dozen plays and received numerous awards for both his playwrighting and acting skills.

“Frost/Nixon” will only run for two weeks. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays on Jan. 26-28 and Feb. 2-4 and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

For tickets or more information, visit springeroperahouse.org, call 706-327-3688 or visit the Box Office at 103 10^th Street (open 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday).

WABE City Cafe Interview: 40 Weeks

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:13:08 +0000

Director Topher Payne and playwright Michael Henry Harris sit down with City Cafe’s John Lemley to discuss the Atlanta premiere of 40 Weeks, produced by OnStage Atlanta and inViolet Repertory. Great work from segment producer Myke Johns.

Listen to the interview

Write Club: Joy vs. Sorrow

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:06:20 +0000

WRITE CLUB is the tenderest bloodsport. WRITE CLUB is a lit-kick to the back of the skull. WRITE CLUB does good without getting all self-righteous.

2 OPPOSING WRITERS.
2 OPPOSING IDEAS.
7 MINUTES APIECE.
AUDIENCE PICKS A WINNER.

Writers compete for cash going to a charity of their choosing.

This is Part Three of our Very WRITE CLUB [holiday]. In the Joy corner: WRITE CLUB Atlanta’s own humble Viceroy Nicholas Tecosky. And in the Sorrow corner (why isn’t that the title of a Cure album?), playwright and columnist for the Georgia Voice, Topher Payne.

Click here to listen.

Creative Loafing: 2012 Essential Festival

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:09:34 +0000

Essential Theatre announces all-Georgia play festival for 2012

by Curt Holman, Creative Loafing

Next year, Essential Theatre celebrates its 25th year in existence by devoting its 2012 festival of new plays entirely to Georgia writers. As artistic director Peter Hardy explains, “The very first Essential production was in 1987 — two one acts performed at the Performance Gallery over a Halloween Weekend, starring Scott Higgs and Bill Murphy. We did maybe nine productions over the years, before starting the Festival (and incorporated) in 1999.”

The dates are still TBA (probably July at Actor’s Express), but the lineup includes the world premiere of Topher Payne’s Evelyn in Purgatory, a twist on The Breakfast Club in which five teachers await the results of a disciplinary case. Evelyn in Purgatory is the latest winner of the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award for Georgia writers.

In addition, Jordan Pulliam’s Bat-Hamlet envisions Shakespeare’s melancholy Dane as a costumed crimefighter. I can see that, as both brooding characters strives to avenge a parental murder. Does this make The Joker “a fellow of infinite jest and spirit?”

The last play on the list is The Local, “A collaborative theatre project about the City of Atlanta, by the writers of Atlanta, to be developed and directed by Ellen McQueen, award-winning director of Ice Glen and Sally and Glen at the Palace.”

Tokens of Affection

admin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:47:02 +0000

A ROMANTIC COMEDY IN 2 ACTS —3 MEN, 3 WOMEN

NOMINEE, 2011 SUZI BASS AWARDS, GENE GABRIEL MOORE PLAYWRITING AWARD

Frank Garrett is caught completely off-guard when Jackie, his wife of thirty-seven years, announces she’s leaving. Her only explanation? “You don’t send me flowers.” Frank seeks solace and answers at the New York apartment of his son Charlie, a video game designer. When Charlie calls his sister Claire in a panic, he discovers Jackie has found refuge at her Connecticut home. Via a series of telephone conspiracies, Charlie and Claire join forces on a mission to get their parents back together, and more importantly, back in their own home. But complications arise when Frank is introduced to Rita, the lovely widow across the hall… Tokens of Affection had its World Premiere at Georgia Ensemble Theatre in January, 2011. The production was directed by Topher Payne. The cast was Matthew Myers, Shelly McCook, Kelly Criss, Googie Uterhardt, John Stephens, and Judy Leavell.

Medicine Showdown

admin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:46:31 +0000

A DRAMA IN TWO ACTS———-4 MEN, 1 WOMAN

CO-WRITTEN WITH ADAM KOPLAN FOR FLYING CARPET THEATRE CO. CREATIVE LOAFING CRITIC’S CHOICE, TOP 10 PLAYS OF 2009, TOP 50 PLAYS OF THE DECADE.

Inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s classic Enemy of the People, the story of a crusading doctor against an entourage of snake oil salesmen.It’s October, 1918, and Dr. Claudia Hill is wrestling with how best to address an impending influenza epidemic in the small Georgia town of Norwich. Public health seems at odds with the town’s economic interests as civic leaders debate shutting down all public gatherings—including the popular and lucrative arrival of Dr. Eggerton’s Traveling Medicine Show. As her attempts to impose a quarantine are usurped at every turn by the wily Dr. Eggerton, Dr. Hill realizes she must stand alone to save the town.Interwoven throughout the play are scenes from the period medicine show, complete with tap dance, old time melodrama, bluegrass music, and vaudevillian comedy.Medicine Showdown premiered at 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta, in August 2009. The production was developed and produced by The Flying Carpet Theatre Company, directed by Artistic Director Adam Koplan.