ACTING OUT Offstage friendship produces onstage magic

Melissa Foulger and Steve Yockey never realized they would be collaborating a decade later after working on “Iphigenia,” their first project together at 7 Stages in 2004. The close friends, both of whom are out, have formed a strong professional bond. Yockey’s thriller, “The Thrush & the Woodpecker,” opens this weekend at Actor’s Express (in repertory with his drama “Blackberry Winter”) with Foulger—who has directed more than 30 shows locally—at the helm. Georgia Voice caught up with Foulger in advance of the show’s opening this weekend.

Georgia Voice: Tell us about the show. Foulger:

There are three characters. Brenda (Stacey Melich) is the mother to Noah (Matthew Busch). He has been kicked out of school, and they are dealing with that. A woman (Kathleen Wattis Kettrey) re-appears in their life—a mystery to Noah—and causes a lot of trouble in typical Steve Yockey fashion.

When did you first read the script and how has it changed since then?

I got it about a year ago when I was approached to work on it. Steve did a development process at the Express a few years ago. The theatricality he is famous for is much more clear and concise and the relationships have evolved and are much cleaner. Those are the biggest things I’ve noticed.

When did you two meet?

Gay director Steve Yockey thrills audiences with latest production, ‘The Thrush & the Woodpecker.’