Playwright Bill Balzer based “Uncorked Conversations” on his friendship with a neighbor. (Photo courtesy of Bill Balzer)
Atlanta playwright Bill Balzer’s autobiographical new work, Uncorked Conversations, is onstage at the Theatrical Outfit venue named for him from September 26 to October 5. The play delves into an unexpected friendship between two retirees as they determine what surprises life might still have for them.
Based upon his own interactions with a neighbor named Mike Buscher, Balzer uses the two-person play to chart how their friendship evolved from morning hellos by the mailboxes of their Roswell homes to long talks by the pool.
“Occasionally, we’d see each other at a neighborhood party, but that was pretty much it until we both retired,” Balzer said in a recent interview. “When we both retired, we started spending more time together. He’d come to the pool at my house for three or four days in the afternoon during the summer.”
Wine and cigars in the evenings added ease to their conversations.
“We just started talking about our lives — about corporate life, our time in the military and our families,” he said. “I realized Mike was a pretty funny guy.”
Balzer said the new play evokes aspects of The Odd Couple and My Dinner with Andre, both of which center upon the stories and connections shared between two friends.
Bill Murphey, below, portrays Bill Blazer in 2024’s Two Drink Minimum at Academy Theatre, as Matthew Myers occasionally mirrors his movement while narrating in the background.
“I took a lot of Mike’s humor and some of his emails and just built the script,” he said.
Directed by Balzer, the play stars Bill Murphey and Robin Bloodworth. The staging is minimal, most of it taking place as the two characters reflect upon life by the pool. But Balzer promises the play is full of activity as well as wisdom.
“There’s movement and storytelling,” he said.
Some stories stem from the Vietnam era or their experiences on the corporate ladder, but the underlying theme is how life continues to evolve for these men. Though retired, they are not done.
Balzer said Buscher has read the script and seen a reading of the play in 2024 at Stage Door Theatre, but seeing a full production will be a thrill. Both of their families will attend.
He added that it’s difficult directing his own material, but he trusts Murphey and Bloodworth.
Murphey portrayed Balzer in multiple productions of his first script, Two-Drink Minimum, which addressed his relationship with his mother.
“He does a great job portraying me,” Balzer said. “He’s got all those little nuances and movements down.”
The storytelling skill that Bloodworth exhibited in Theatrical Outfit’s production of Tiny Beautiful Things led Balzer to consider him ideal for the role of Mike.
“Not only does he have the physical stature of Mike — he has the comedic timing that’s so important,” the playwright said.
The friendship has taught him a lot, and Balzer said he views the play as a way of saying thank you.
Where & When
Uncorked Conversations is at the Balzer Theatre of Theatrical Outfit September 26 through October 5. Tickets, $30.
84 Luckie St. NW.
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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.
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