GMC News

GMC-Fayetteville Professor's Play Sweeps Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre Awards

To be an award-winning playwright is a huge career accomplishment, and Georgia Military College Theatre Professor, Daniel Guyton, can add that accomplishment to his resume. The GMC-Fayetteville professor wrote a play that won seven awards at the Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre (MAT) Awards in August. His play, “Three Ladies of Opington,” took home MAT awards, including Best Overall Performance of a Play, Best Ensemble Acting, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Costume Design, and Best Sound Design.

The play, a dark comedy about a Victorian Era British family, was produced at Onion Man Productions in Chamblee, Ga. in October of 2017 and received critical acclaim after its premiere. It was subsequently nominated for 12 Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre awards, including the ones listed above, as well as Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Set Design, and Best Lighting Design. The play received a nomination in every category it was eligible for.

The English professor at GMC-Fayetteville says he never expected this kind of success.

“The MAT Awards typically honor the actors and crew of well-established plays by famous writers,” Guyton said. “For instance, we were competing against plays like ‘A Christmas Story’, ‘Driving Miss Daisy’, and more. The awards were to honor the people who brought the plays to life – not necessarily the writers. In fact, my play was the only world premiere play up for any awards. For that reason, I did not expect to win that many. We thought we might get one or two of the awards, but not seven. We are absolutely blown away by the number of wins. The whole cast and crew and myself were on cloud nine the whole night.”

Guyton has been writing plays for over 20 years, and of the 106 he’s written, “Three Ladies of Opington” has been his most successful. Congratulations to Professor Guyton!