GAY PLAYWRIGHT FRANK Blocker returns to Atlanta this week, where his “Southern Gothic Novel” is part of a double-feature at Whole World Theatre.

Blocker’s “Southern Gothic Novel” is a one-man show in which he plays a number of characters in a Mississippi town where young girls are disappearing. The play premiered last year at the New York International Fringe Festival with respectable notice, and Blocker plans to take it to a gay theater festival in Ohio later this year.

The production at Whole World is teamed with Murray Scott Changar’s “The Gates of Helen,” a psychological thriller that features Blocker in a supporting role as a gay therapist.

“The reason we brought these two shows here is Changar was antsy to do ‘Helen’ somewhere before he took it off-Broadway, and I thought it would be a good idea to bring ‘Southern Gothic Novel’ as well,” Blocker says.

He premiered “Eula Mae’s Beauty, Bait & Tackle” in 1991 at the 14th Street Playhouse, and it lasted in some form or fashion in Atlanta until it closed in August 2000 at the Neighborhood Playhouse.

“We only booked it for two weeks; we did the show really out of fun. There was demand to bring it back, so we opened it for six weeks later and then brought it back another time,” Blocker says.

Blocker, who relocated to Atlanta in 1990, moved to New York City after “Eula Mae” closed. He attempted to stage the play there but encountered some obstacles.

“We decided to give it an off-Broadway shot and we made some mistakes,” Blocker says. “A few New York people were interested, but they wanted us to rewrite the show. They thought the Southerners were appearing too smart. The producers felt audiences weren’t going to appreciate it unless it was dumbed down.”

Frustrated, Blocker says he even turned to a producer and told him he wouldn’t work with a director who was trying to dramatically alter the work.

Eventually, Blocker opened the show off-Broadway at the Jose Quintero Theatre, where it ran for six weeks.
“ We expected bad reviews and great audiences and got the opposite,” he says.

Besides “Eula Mae,” Blocker is also known in Atlanta for originating the role of Mrs. Divine in the original version of “Veranda.” In March, Blocker publishes a book, “Queer Chronicles: The Flaming of Atlanta,” on the Web.

DAD’S GARAGE’S SHORT PLAY fest “8-1/2 X 11” is always one of the company’s riskier propositions. This year’s version, “Punk Rock Will Never Die,” contains plays by some hot playwrights.

Greg Kotis, the whiz kid behind “Urinetown,” has one of the most successful offerings in the festival: “Theater” finds a group of actors onstage ruminating about their craft. At various times, they go off into the audience and ask about the shows and their individual performances.

Yet most of the pieces — two of which are by gay or bisexual writers — aren’t terribly memorable. Chay Yew’s “Second Skin” takes a scary look at life post 9/11, but playwright Alice Tuan contributes a really strange piece involving aromatherapy and actor John Benzinger in drag. This is a hit-or-miss proposition with an emphasis on the latter.

Elsewhere, the hip Out of Hand theater troupe remounts its “VD Show,” described as an event for angry singles and the couples that torment them. Blind dates, poetry and the Kama Sutra Challenge are promised.

MORE INFO
‘The Gates of Helen’ & ‘Southern Gothic Novel’
Through Feb. 22
Whole World Theatre, 3rd space
121 Spring St.
1-877-238-5596

‘8-1/2 X 11: Punk Rock Will Never Die’
Through Feb. 22
Dad’s Garage
280 Elizabeth St.
404-523-3141

‘The VD Show: Reinfected’
Through Feb. 14
CJ’s Landing
270 Buckhead Ave.
404-522-6194