Topher Payne, a 22-year-old playwright, balances a part-time job with productions of two plays and pursuing his dreams at breakneck speed.
By Mike Fleming, Southern Voice
To approach Topher Payne as he holds court behind the counter at Outwrite Books & Coffeehouse is to be greeted warmly with wit, sensitivity and intelligence — hints that there is something deeper stirring beneath.In fact, the young coffee slinger is also a playwright in a whirlwind of activity in the local theater scene, including two current shows.
It's possible right now to be out on the town for an entire day of "non-stop Topher theater," Payne says.
And that's all part of Payne's plan to realize his dreams, he says.
"I've always been taught that if you're not doing what you were placed on this Earth to do, you are wasting your life," Payne says. "I have always believed that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough."
Not bad for a high school drop out who has been on his own since age 15.
"It's not age that matters," he says. "It's experience."
That experience includes theater work in his home state of Mississippi and director of audience development at Woodruff Arts Center.
He decided to move on and take the job at Outwrite to give himself the time he needs to work on his craft.
Payne's comedy "Beached Wails" is enjoying "small but enthusiastic" audiences in a world-premiere production by Atlanta Classical Theatre. The show is the story of four Southern sisters and how they deal with adversity. It runs for an additional two weeks.
The play is based on Payne's own mother and aunts, who will attend the Nov. 1 performance.
"When I was growing up, I was fascinated just listening to them talk," Payne says. "It wasn't just what they said, but how they were saying it, and I think that comes off in this show."
"Beached Wails" is in part a response to another well loved Southern play about women, "Steel Magnolias," Payne says.
"Of course I'm aware of and love 'Steel Magnolias' like every other Southern gay man," he says. "But there were not really a lot of tough choices in that show. The thing I love about the women in 'Beached' is that they are all incredible women and they are all marvelously flawed."
While "Beached" runs, Payne's just-for-fun show "Solid Gold! That '70s Cabaret," shows in connection with Process Theatre Company.
In the show, Payne plays Cher circa the 1970s, Sonny Bono ("not at the same time," Payne assures), Brad Majors from "Rocky Horror" and a mystery character whose presence is a surprise in the show.
So how does a 22-year-old not only know what he wants, but how to pursue it?
"I've always taken chances," Payne says.
Payne will step back from stage work after "That 70s Cabaret" and devote more time to writing plays. His adaptation of "Cyrano," set in the 1960s, opens in March with Atlanta Classical Theatre. Four plays he's still writing should come to fruition next year.
"We have to take advantage of the time we're given," Payne says. "I could... be hit by a bus tomorrow. We have to approach things realistically and say 'This is what we're going to do with the time we have."
