Swell Party

OnStage Atlanta
2969 East Ponce de Leon Ave Decatur, GA 30033

It's 1932, and 20 year-old orphaned tobacco heir Smith Reynolds has returned from New York to his family's Winston-Salem estate with a surprise souvenir: a wife. The new Mrs. Reynolds is notorious Broadway star Libby Holman - a dozen years older than Smith. She arrives with a trunkload of gin and an acting coach who is quite possibly insane. Smith's guardian, Kate Reynolds, attempts to manage the scandal giving Libby a crash course in Southern decorum. A party is thrown to introduce the newlyweds to society, but it's flat-out ruined when the groom turns up dead. The guests are gathered to reconstruct the evening's events for a beleaguered County Solicitor, but they fail spectacularly, which shouldn't be a surprise. This Process Theatre Company production of Swell Party by Topher Payne is directed by Suehyla El-Attar.