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Tom Key is an American actor, producer, director, and playwright who served as Artistic Director of the renowned Theatrical Outfit in downtown Atlanta from 1995 to 2020. His commitment to producing world-class theatre that sparks meaningful conversations transformed the company into one of the city's leading performing arts institutions. He has appeared in over 100 productions across venues from off-Broadway to Los Angeles, including the Alliance Theatre (Art, Grapes of Wrath, Candide, Woody Guthrie's American Song, A Christmas Carol), The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (The Defiant Requiem), Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre, and Arena Stage in Washington DC (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), The Atlanta Opera (Out of Darkness: Two Remain, Abduction from the Seraglio), The Atlanta Ballet (Peter and the Wolf), The Atlanta Master Chorale (Music of the Civil War), and Theatrical Outfit (Big River Suzi Winner, The God Committee Suzi Winner Best Ensemble, Young Man From Atlanta Suzi Nominee, Red Suzi Nominee, Boy Suzi Nominee, Our Town, Buckminster Fuller: The Mystery and History of the Universe, Cotton Patch Gospel Suzi Nominee, Blood Knot with Kenny Leon, and The Book of Will Suzi Nominee Best Ensemble).
His directing work at Theatrical Outfit includes Horton Foote's The Chase and Dividing the Estate, named ArtsATL's Best Production of the 2013-2014 Season; Godspell (Suzi Nominee); Memphis (Suzi Nominee, co-produced with Aurora Theatre); Keeping Watch, a world premiere by Thomas Ward and Creative Loafing's Best Production of the 2005-2006 Season; Master Harold and the Boys, praised by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as "a message to Athol Fugard, Theatrical Outfit is representing you well in Atlanta"; and Hank Williams Lost Highway.
Since 1977, he has toured internationally with the one-person show C.S. Lewis On Stage, which he adapted from the writings of the author of The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia. The play has been performed at the John F. Kennedy Center, Harvard, Yale, and Oxford University. In 2008-2009, Provision Theatre of Chicago produced it with Bradley Armacost in the leading role. He also adapted John Bunyan's classic The Pilgrim's Progress for the stage, published in 2009 by Dramatic Publishing Company.
For Theatrical Outfit, Key adapted two Walker Percy novels: the National Book Award-winning The Moviegoer (2001), described by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as "a comic gem," and Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Seminar, called "a hilarious tour de force" by the same publication. In 2004, under Susan V. Booth’s direction, he wrote and performed a monologue for the world premiere of Leap at The Alliance Theater, which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called "riveting."
Nationally acclaimed, Key co-created, starred in, and co-authored the off-Broadway musical hit Cotton Patch Gospel with Russell Treyz and the late Harry Chapin. Notable performances include Lamb's Theatre off-Broadway, The Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles—where he earned a Best Actor nomination from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle and his second Dramalogue Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Theater—the Dallas Theatre Center, and multiple productions at The Alliance Theatre and Theatrical Outfit.
His film and television credits include Jon Stewart's Irresistible, NBC's Bluff City Law, HBO's Doom Patrol, BET's Sistas, Amazon's The Adventures of Ociee Nash, Gordy from Miramax, and the upcoming FOX series Monarch. Key has been honored with The Governor's Award in the Humanities for enhancing the quality of life in Georgia, the Georgia Arts and Entertainment Legacy Award, and three mayoral proclamations for his service to the City of Atlanta. Creative Loafing describes him as "an actor with such energy that even standing still, he seems to quiver like a divining rod.
