Two new theater companies formed on a ‘Playground’ share similar goals

Elizabeth Gibbs and Matt Mercurio have big goals for the future after bonding over — and staging — a favorite play.

New beginnings are always exciting, whether it’s friendship or a business venture. But the start of an artistic journey is perhaps the most exciting, as Matt Mercurio of Tesseract Theatre Lab and Elizabeth Gibbs of Act Before You Think Productions can tell you. Both founded with the goal of pushing theatrical boundaries in Atlanta, these two nascent companies came together to produce playwright Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, running through May 11 at the Mask Center.

It seemed like fate when Mercurio and Gibbs met in mutual acting mentor Peter Frechette’s class last year. While having coffee one day after class, they found themselves talking about Gruesome Playground Injuries. “Elizabeth mentioned having an intuitive nudge to do the play for her next production, and with it being one of my favorite plays and a play that I had been looking to act in and produce for the last two years. . . it felt destined for us to come together and do it,” said Mercurio.

Their play choice is ironically appropriate, since Gruesome Playground Injuries similarly takes us through all of the ways in which two people’s lives intersect. The two-person show follows Doug and Kayleen, childhood best friends who bond over various scars and injuries, from scraped knees to self-inflicted wounds. The story moves in nonlinear fashion, capturing specific moments from their 30-year friendship and showcasing all of the ways they touch each other’s lives. It’s rife with beginnings, which makes it a perfect piece to kick off the collaboration between Tesseract and Act Before You Think.

Tesseract is the result of Mercurio’s intention to create a dedicated space for devised theatre in Atlanta. For this goal, he was awarded a 2024 South Fulton Arts Individual Artistic Partnership, an honor providing financial as well as logistical assistance to individuals looking to contribute to the arts community of South Fulton County. Prior to founding Tesseract, Mercurio worked with various companies in Atlanta, including Theatrical Outfit, Working Title Playwrights and Horizon Theatre. Last year, he assistant directed Horizon’s production of Ellen Fairey’s Support Group for Men. 

Mercurio has also worked in theater education and has appeared in sizable roles in television and film (including Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots and the horror film Hell Fest). With Tesseract, Mercurio seeks to create a space “to train and to artistically nerd out together, with the intent of telling stories that are meaningful to us and emphasizing voices that aren’t heard from as often.” While Gruesome Playground Injuries is not an original work, it is Mercurio’s first step in building Tesseract into a recognizable company.

Act Before You Think Productions is slightly more established, having had its inaugural production at RoleCall Theatre in April, where it staged Lucy Thurber’s Where We’re Born. Gibbs founded the company with the intention of diving into bold and daring works. The name of the company comes from Sanford Meisner, who believed actors should always act before thinking. Meisner believed that the only way to give an honest performance was to rely on your instincts and, by doing so, put yourself emotionally into the scene. He believed that the heart of acting is honestly reacting without intellectualizing. Gibbs studied Meisner performance at Columbus State University and also participated in a Meisner Intensive at the Robert Mello Studio in Decatur.

Her choice of play certainly leans into the Meisner mentality: “I was drawn to Gruesome Playground Injuries because Rajiv Joseph’s work leaps off the page. It is dark and brutally honest — a lot like life at times. He doesn’t believe in sugarcoating anything for the audience, and I like how he has no intention to hold your hand through it.” 

The visceral nature of Joseph’s work is representative of Gibbs’ ethos as an artist, she said, and of the artistic statement of Act Before You Think.

Moving forward, Gibbs aims to continue producing “really well-written contemporary plays that are deeply human” while possibly exploring directing. She hopes that within a few years, Act Before You Think Productions will have its own space and be able to offer classes and workshops alongside yearly productions.

Mercurio hopes to focus more on devising, offering contemporary works that run parallel with original works. He strives to make Tesseract a “destination for theatergoers everywhere,” offering training opportunities in devising and unique storytelling methods to both industry professionals and schools. 

For both companies, Gruesome Playground Injuries is an early step as they seek to grow and become spaces for artistic exploration and community. Only time will tell how these companies integrate themselves into the larger tapestry of Atlanta’s theatrical arts.

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Luke Evans is an Atlanta-based writer, critic and dramaturg. He covers theater for ArtsATL and Broadway World Atlanta and has worked with theaters such as the Alliance, Actor’s Express, Out Front Theatre and Woodstock Arts. He’s a graduate of Oglethorpe University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and the University of Houston, where he earned his master’s.