Atlanta's Jomandi Productions, having recently wrapped up a successful revival of Ntozake Shange's choreo-poem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf, is opening another 20-year-old-but-still-potent play, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men by Georgia native Lonnie Elder III, running Jan. 17-Feb. 9 at the 14th Street Playhouse. Jomandi has added a ceremonious challenge for the occasion.

In honor of the production, the company is opposing the "consensus of opinion" that women bring men to theatre, by "challenging men to bring women, sons, daughters, friends and any other loved ones to the theatre to hear their voices speak to the issues of adulthood , fatherhood, and responsibility," a press release said.

Jomandi is offering the first 100 men who attend the theatre on Saturday and Sunday of opening weekend (Jan. 18 & 19), two tickets for the price of one. There will also be a special forum after the Sunday matinee, "Challenge and Responsibility."

Ceremonies... director Tom Jones, says "This time, we want men to take the initiative in bringing someone they care about to the theatre," and we hope this special rate will give an extra incentive to do so."

Ceremonies... first opened in New York in 1969, and the play's theme is very close to the promotion, as an African-American daughter threatens to throw her father and brothers out of the house unless they put themselves to work. The men learn the value of responsibility and work. The cast features Atlanta based actors, including Angela Mills, founder of the Crossroads Theatre in Los Angeles, and daughter of TV star, Marla Gibbs.

For tickets or more information about Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, please refer to Jomandi Productions regional listing on Playbill On-Line.

--By Blair Glaser