Ballet of the dolls: The premiere of the doll plays explores Harlem's changing soul--and challenges Atlanta audiences. (Critic's Notebook). (theater review)

Pink and white--the colors of a little girl's dream dollhouse--create an atmosphere that is soft, warm and inviting. Gossamer drapes and fine shining wires define the space. At the center is the bed we all wished we had when we were 12--a canopied four-poster, draped in white eiderdown.

This cozy environment, apparently suspended in the air and washed by the sounds of a jazz band, nestled at the heart of Alva Rogers's the doll plays, a daring fantasy-meets-memory play that received its world premiere at Atlanta's Actor's Express this past March. Written in blank-verse for a ...

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