Palefsky Collision Project

Overview

For three weeks each summer, the Alliance Theatre assembles a diverse group of teenagers to "collide" with a source text under the guidance of a professional playwright and director.

For the first two weeks of this dynamic project, ensemble members unpack the source text, engage in an intensive series of theater workshops with guest artists, converse with subject matter experts, and express their unique reflections upon these experiences through daily creative writing exercises. These reflections are then woven together to create a new piece of theater inspired by the source text, but perceived through the ensemble's utterly unique and contemporary prism. The third and final week of the program includes a rigorous rehearsal process that culminates with final performances at the Alliance Theatre.

For over 20 years, the Palefsky Collision Project has empowered teens to create theater, for and about themselves, as collaborative, creative, and confident young artists.

For more information, call 404.733.4700 or email collision.project@alliancetheatre.org.

Palefsky Collision Project Summer 2024

Details regarding the 23rd annual Palefsky Collision Project (Summer 2024) will be announced in January 2024. Please return to this page for updates. In the meantime, rising 11th grade, 12th grade, and post-secondary students are encouraged to learn more about the program by viewing the summer 2023 performance and/or attending the MLK Day (2024) performance.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (2024)

Each MLK Day, young artists from the Palefsky Collision Project reconvene to reimagine their summer performance through the lens of letters to Dr. King. Directed by Patrick McColery in collaboration with Pearl Cleage, Distinguished Artist in Residence, this year's performance of Dear Dr. King will re-explore Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard by Pearl Cleage.

MLK Day performances will take place in-person on Monday, January 15, 2024:

11 AM EST at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, The Glenn (free with museum admission)
3 PM EST at the Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Theatre (free with RSVP required)

MLK Day RSVP: 3 PM | Woodruff Arts Center