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SUMMARY:Virtual Play Club Series
DESCRIPTION:Virtual Play Club Series\nThe Alliance Theatre will showcase the finalists of the 16th Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition by making all four scripts available to the public to read between April 9 – 24\, 2020. After the scripts have been available for a week\, the Alliance will begin hosting a free Virtual Play Club series where the public is invited to a live virtual meeting with the playwright to discuss the script. The Virtual Play Club series will culminate with an Artists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall.   \nRead the full scripts here.\nLearn how to read a play here. \nIf you RSVP’d\, you will receive the details for how to access those conversations on the day of your scheduled event.\nVirtual Play Club Schedule\nUnkindness\nby Logan Faust (NYU Tisch)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 16th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Matt Torney and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nUnkindness tells the story of Bonnie\, a grieving mother\, and Elijah\, a would-be prophet\, as they struggle to survive after their only motivations for survival\, their son and faith respectively\, are taken from them. When a desperate young mother with a dying child comes to them for help\, they must confront the only question that matters at the End of the World: what will you do to survive? Inspired by Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood\, the Bible’s First Book of Kings\, and the murder-spree of Bonnie and Clyde\, Unkindness is one Southerner’s attempt to reconcile the destructive and redemptive elements of our myriad\, modern-day interpretations of faith. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Logan Faust\, talking about the play: \n \nDjarum Vanilla\nby Cary Simowitz (UCLA)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 17th at 7:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Keith Bolden and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nNovember 2014. Missouri. The Darren Wilson verdict is imminent. Protests are becoming a daily part of life in Ferguson. The nascent Black Lives Matter movement is gaining national traction as racial tension in Missouri reaches a boiling point. To make matters worse\, rumors perpetuated by the media are spreading about the possibility of a race war igniting between a group of black teenagers and Bosnian immigrants. \nMeanwhile\, ten miles away from Ferguson at an aging gas station/autobody shop\, an unlikely friendship is fostered between a twenty-one-year-old black man named Malcolm and a poverty-stricken\, seventeen-year-old white girl named Bex after the pair discover a secret hidden beneath the front seat of an abandoned Maserati. In the coming weeks\, Malcolm and Bex are forced to test the boundaries of their friendship as the two are confronted with the harsh reality of living in a changing\, unjust America. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Cary Simowitz\, talking about the play: \n \nMonster\nby Ava Geyer (UCSD)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 23rd at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director January LaVoy and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins.  \nWhen self-help guru Drew Capuano’s compulsive masturbation comes to light\, he retains the services of the only person who will still represent him: his power hungry twenty-four year-old female assistant. Meanwhile\, survivor Mona Giotti works to make sure she’s put Drew away for good. Monster is a brutal and brutally funny odyssey through America’s media machine that puts perpetrator and survivor on a collision course of reckoning. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Ava Geyer\, talking about the play: \n \nStitched with a Sickle and a Hammer\nby Inna Tsyrlin (Ohio University)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 24th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Lauren Morris and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nAleksandra\, a political prisoner at a GULAG camp and part of the camp’s theatre troupe\, is forced to help Soviet authorities disguise the existence of the camp in front of a visiting American delegation. She prepares for two roles: the character on stage – Nina from Chekhov’s The Seagull – and the role of an actor who isn’t imprisoned. In the face of totalitarian power\, inside and outside the camp\, Aleksandra must decide whether to comply with the regime that has taken away her freedom or commit an act of counterrevolution. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Inna Tsyrlin\, talking about the play: \n \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Virtual Kendeda Play Club: Stitched with a Sickle and a Hammer \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/98669661579?pwd=TWtMT1c2Q3FxQ1pSSEMwN252a1JUUT09\nPassword: 715537 \nArtists’ Roundtable\nFriday\, April 24 at 5:30pm \nArtists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall. \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Artist Roundtable Discussion \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/91226371416?pwd=SGZ6VTRCb055T1FxenNCbGU0V3ZaZz09\nPassword: 520926 \nRoundtable Artist Bios:\n2019/2020 Kendeda Winner:\n\n\n\n\nSteph Del Rosso\, 53% Of\nSteph Del Rosso is a writer based in New York. Her plays include: 53% Of (Alliance/ Kendeda winner)\, The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, 2021)\, Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill (The Flea)\, Machinalia (JACK)\, Are You There? (UC-San Diego)\, You’re Crazy (a play with karaoke) (IAMA New Works Festival)\, and Life Savers. Her work has been developed at The Kennedy Center\, The Lark\, Ojai Playwrights’ Conference\, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference\, Colt Coeur\, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, the Los Angeles Theatre Center\, New York Stage and Film\, SPACE on Ryder Farm\, and others. She is the 19/20 Shank Playwright in Residence at The Public Theater and is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and Clubbed Thumb’s Emerging Writers’ Group. She is commissioned by Studio Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse and teaches Playwriting at NYU. \n\n\n\n\nKendeda Finalists:\n\n\n\n\nAva Geyer\, Monster \nAva Geyer received her BA from Princeton University in 2015 and MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego in 2019. Geyer is currently the Shank Resident Playwright at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater\, a member of EST/Youngblood\, and under commission by La Jolla Playhouse. She is a recipient of Theater Masters’ 2020 Visionary Award. Her play Monster was a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. She was a finalist for the 2019/2020 Jerome Fellowship and semi-finalist for the Ingram New Works Lab. Her play Fruit Snacks appeared at the Hopeful Decade event in Williamsburg\, Brooklyn in January 2020. Her play B-Storm appeared at Theatre Row in May 2019 as part of Theater Masters’ Take Ten program honoring the best short plays by MFA playwrights across the country. Past plays include SERE (Wagner New Play Festival 2018) and Baby Teeth (WNPF ’17).   \n\n\n\n\nLogan Faust\, Unkindness\nLogan Faust is a Louisiana-born\, New York-based playwright\, television writer\, and actor who holds his Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. Before moving to New York\, he lived in New Orleans\, where he received his BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans. He currently works as Showrunner’s Assistant for Filthy Rich\, airing on Fox this Spring. A lifelong Southerner\, Faust’s work grapples with questions of religion\, absurdity\, and the End of the World; and are inspired by Samuel Beckett\, Flannery O’Connor\, Martin McDonagh\, and\, of course\, Tennessee Williams.  \n\n\n\n\nInna Tsyrlin\, Stitched With a Sickle and a Hammer\nInna Tsyrlin was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Australia during the collapse of the socialist state. Her work responds to ideas of political freedom through the lens of historical and current events\, identity in a diaspora\, and society’s responsibility to the natural environment. She received the Trisolini Graduate Fellowship (Ohio University) for her play Stitched with a Sickle and Hammer\, and the play was the 2019 Renaissance Theaterworks New Play Festival finalist (Milwaukee\, WI) and 2020 Alliance/Kendeda Playwriting Competition finalist (Atlanta\, GA). Her work has been presented in New York City at The Rising Sun Performance Company\, Emerging Artists Theater\, HB Playwrights Theatre\, and Manhattan Repertory Theater. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. More about Inna: innatsyrlin.org  \n\n\n\n\nCary Simowitz\, Djarum Vanilla\nCary Simowitz recently graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater\, Film\, and Television with his Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting. He is the author of five full-length plays\, three one acts\, and several ten- minute pieces\, in addition to multiple works of poetry and short fiction. He received his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 2016 and is licensed to practice law in Missouri and New York. Cary’s plays have collectively garnered him modest recognition in over two-dozen competitions across the country. He twice participated in the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival in 2014 and 2015 with his plays\, Ekphasia and The Divine Buoyancy of Being\, respectively. His play\, Djarum Vanilla\, was developed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of their MFA New Play Festival\, in association with the National New Play Network and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Moreover\, this play received the Kennedy Center’s 2019 Rosa Parks Award for “Distinguished Achievement\,” the 2017 Tim Robbins Award in Playwriting\, the 2016 Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting\, the 2016 Dramatics Club of St. Louis Award\, semifinalist status in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2017 National Playwrights Conference\, and finalist status in Panndora Productions’s 10th Annual New Works Festival. His play\, A Wolf’s Mother\, was produced at UCLA as part of its 2019 MFA New Play Festival and was subsequently given a workshop production at the Garage Theater in Long Beach\, California\, as a winner of Panndora Production’s 12th Annual New Works Festival. His most recent project\, All the Oxytocin at Your Fingertips was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2020 National Playwrights Conference and is still under adjudication for the finals.   \n\n\n\n\nAtlanta Playwrights:\n\n\n\n\nMary Lynn Owen\nMary Lynn Owen is an Atlanta-based theater artist with a career spanning over forty years. Her first full-length script\, KNEAD\, a one-person play in which she also performed\, received its world premiere at The Alliance Theatre in November 2018.  KNEAD\, the recipient of the 2019 Gene Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award and The Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Lab Award\, was also a semi-finalist for the 2017 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference.  Mary Lynn’s second full-length play\, LADY PARTS\, was a semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference\, a selection for the 2019 Working Title Playwrights First Light Series\, and a selection for Theatrical Outfit’s 2020 Unexpected Play Festival.  Mary Lynn’s commissions include a ten-minute play\, TRAILERS\, for the 2019 MoJo Festival and the recent ’22 Homes Project’ by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Her writing residencies include Cottages at Hedgebrook in Langley\, WA and The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap\, GA. As an actor\, Mary Lynn is a two-time Suzi Award winner for both Outstanding Performer in a Leading Role (WIT – Aurora Theatre) and Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role (THE LITTLE FOXES – Theatre in the Square) and an eight-time Suzi nominee. Recently\, she assumed the traditionally male role of The Stage Manager in the historic repertory of OUR TOWN and THE LARAMIE PROJECT at Theatrical Outfit.  She is a faculty member of Emory University’s Theater Studies Department where she teaches Introduction to Acting and yearly workshops in Teaching as Performance. Also at Emory\, she has curated for the Brave New Works Festival and developed an ongoing collaboration with the Spanish and Portuguese Department in the production of both new and classical Spanish/Latinx Theater.  She co-created the popular course\, ‘Taller de Teatro en Español – a Theater Workshop in Spanish\,’ a class designed to improve Spanish language proficiency through the use of Theater techniques.   \n\n\n\n\nWill Power\nWill Power is an internationally renowned playwright\, performer\, lyricist and educator. His plays and performances have been seen in hundreds of theaters and concert halls throughout the world including Lincoln Center (New York)\, The Public Theater (New York)\, The Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.)\, The Sydney Opera House\, as well as numerous venues in Asia\, Africa\, Europe and throughout North America.  Called “The best verse playwright in America” by New York Magazine\, Mr. Power is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is known as one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip hop theater\, a late 20th Century art form that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton\, as well as dozens of hip hop education programs being established throughout the country. Power is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals. His straight play\, Fetch Clay\, Make Man\, has been produced in various LORT theaters and regional companies including the McCarter Theater\, New York Theater Workshop\, the Round House Theater\, True Colors Theater Company\, The Ensemble Theater\, and Marin Theater Company to name a few. Other plays include Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Company)\, Five Fingers of Funk (Children’s Theater Company)\, The Seven (La Jolla Playhouse\, New York Theater Workshop\, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company)\, Seize the King (La Jolla Playhouse\, The Alliance Theater)\, and Detroit Red (Arts Emerson). Power’s collaboration with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and composer Julia Wolfe resulted in the performance piece Steel Hammer (Humana Festival\, UCLA Live\, Brooklyn Academy of Music\, plus World tour). Power has received numerous awards for his work as a writer and performer in the field including The Doris Duke Artist Award\, an Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Grant\, a Lucille Lortel Award\, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship\, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant\, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award\, a NYFA Award\, and a Joyce Foundation Award. Power is also a passionate teacher of writing and performance. He has held fellowships\, residencies or faculty positions at the City College of New York\, Princeton University\, Wayne State University\, The University of Michigan at Flint\, Southern Methodist University\, the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). Currently\, Will Power is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of theater at Spelman College\, Atlanta. \n\n\n\n\nKimberly Belflower\nKimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play\, Lost Girl\, is published by Samuel French and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include John Proctor is the Villain (2019 Kilroys List)\, Gondal\, The Use of Wildflowers\, and The Sky Game\, which have been commissioned\, produced\, and developed by Ojai Playwrights Conference\, South Coast Repertory Theatre\, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Farm Theatre\, We the Women Collective\, Peppercorn Theatre\, Less Than Rent Theatre\, Cohen New Works Festival\, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly is currently a Playwriting Fellow at Emory University\, and has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf\, Santa Fe’s celebrated immersive arts collective. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. \n\n\n\n\nMark Kendall\nMark Kendall is an Atlanta-based comedian. He is an ensemble member at Dad’s Garage Theatre. His one man show\, “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” was produced by the Alliance Theatre and he continues to tour the show around the country. Mark studied film at Northwestern University. He worked at Comedy Central through the Chris Rock Summer School Program for up and coming comedy writers of color. During his time at Comedy Central\, he got to pitch jokes to the writing staffs of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Mark was the Readers Pick for Best Comedian in Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2019. \n\n\n\n\nSteve Coulter\nSteve Coulter is an Atlanta-based actor and writer. He was the headwriter for both of Tyler Perry’s television series\, House of Payne and Meet the Browns\, where he supervised over 100 episodes and won two consecutive NAACP IMAGE Awards for Best Comedy Series. He wrote Alice Betweenfor the Alliance Theatre and directed the award-winning short film\, The Etiquette Man\, selected by the Sundance Channel and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His screenplay\, Keesha’s House\, won the $100\,000 Southeastern Media Award.  As an actor\, he has had recurring roles in House of Cards\, The Walking Dead\, Brockmire\, and Yellowstone. Most recently\, he appeared in HBO’s Watchmen and the just released The Hunt. \n\n\n\n\nModerator:\n\n\n\n\nRachel Karpf\nRachel Karpf is a cultural producer and was most recently the BOLD Artistic Producer of WP Theater in New York City\, overseeing projects including the Off-Broadway world premieres of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord and Where We Stand. She previously served as Senior Producer for the international creative collective Guerilla Science\, where she produced the multidisciplinary Works on Water Festival and created science-inspired cultural programming in music festivals\, public parks\, nightclubs\, and more. Rachel has also produced and developed new theater with New Georges\, the Public Theater\, New York Theatre Workshop\, Page 73\, and Beth Morrison Projects. As an independent producer\, she has collaborated with artists including Martyna Majok\, Jackson Gay\, Kate Benson\, Lee Sunday Evans\, Obehi Janice\, and Caitlin Sullivan. Rachel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a former Time Warner Foundation Fellow.   \n\n\n\n\nAll events are free and open to the public. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/virtual-play-club-series-5/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200424T160000
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CREATED:20250808T153409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153409Z
UID:10000332-1587744000-1587744000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Virtual Play Club Series
DESCRIPTION:Virtual Play Club Series\nThe Alliance Theatre will showcase the finalists of the 16th Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition by making all four scripts available to the public to read between April 9 – 24\, 2020. After the scripts have been available for a week\, the Alliance will begin hosting a free Virtual Play Club series where the public is invited to a live virtual meeting with the playwright to discuss the script. The Virtual Play Club series will culminate with an Artists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall.   \nRead the full scripts here.\nLearn how to read a play here. \nIf you RSVP’d\, you will receive the details for how to access those conversations on the day of your scheduled event.\nVirtual Play Club Schedule\nUnkindness\nby Logan Faust (NYU Tisch)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 16th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Matt Torney and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nUnkindness tells the story of Bonnie\, a grieving mother\, and Elijah\, a would-be prophet\, as they struggle to survive after their only motivations for survival\, their son and faith respectively\, are taken from them. When a desperate young mother with a dying child comes to them for help\, they must confront the only question that matters at the End of the World: what will you do to survive? Inspired by Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood\, the Bible’s First Book of Kings\, and the murder-spree of Bonnie and Clyde\, Unkindness is one Southerner’s attempt to reconcile the destructive and redemptive elements of our myriad\, modern-day interpretations of faith. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Logan Faust\, talking about the play: \n \nDjarum Vanilla\nby Cary Simowitz (UCLA)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 17th at 7:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Keith Bolden and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nNovember 2014. Missouri. The Darren Wilson verdict is imminent. Protests are becoming a daily part of life in Ferguson. The nascent Black Lives Matter movement is gaining national traction as racial tension in Missouri reaches a boiling point. To make matters worse\, rumors perpetuated by the media are spreading about the possibility of a race war igniting between a group of black teenagers and Bosnian immigrants. \nMeanwhile\, ten miles away from Ferguson at an aging gas station/autobody shop\, an unlikely friendship is fostered between a twenty-one-year-old black man named Malcolm and a poverty-stricken\, seventeen-year-old white girl named Bex after the pair discover a secret hidden beneath the front seat of an abandoned Maserati. In the coming weeks\, Malcolm and Bex are forced to test the boundaries of their friendship as the two are confronted with the harsh reality of living in a changing\, unjust America. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Cary Simowitz\, talking about the play: \n \nMonster\nby Ava Geyer (UCSD)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 23rd at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director January LaVoy and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins.  \nWhen self-help guru Drew Capuano’s compulsive masturbation comes to light\, he retains the services of the only person who will still represent him: his power hungry twenty-four year-old female assistant. Meanwhile\, survivor Mona Giotti works to make sure she’s put Drew away for good. Monster is a brutal and brutally funny odyssey through America’s media machine that puts perpetrator and survivor on a collision course of reckoning. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Ava Geyer\, talking about the play: \n \nStitched with a Sickle and a Hammer\nby Inna Tsyrlin (Ohio University)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 24th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Lauren Morris and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nAleksandra\, a political prisoner at a GULAG camp and part of the camp’s theatre troupe\, is forced to help Soviet authorities disguise the existence of the camp in front of a visiting American delegation. She prepares for two roles: the character on stage – Nina from Chekhov’s The Seagull – and the role of an actor who isn’t imprisoned. In the face of totalitarian power\, inside and outside the camp\, Aleksandra must decide whether to comply with the regime that has taken away her freedom or commit an act of counterrevolution. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Inna Tsyrlin\, talking about the play: \n \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Virtual Kendeda Play Club: Stitched with a Sickle and a Hammer \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/98669661579?pwd=TWtMT1c2Q3FxQ1pSSEMwN252a1JUUT09\nPassword: 715537 \nArtists’ Roundtable\nFriday\, April 24 at 5:30pm \nArtists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall. \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Artist Roundtable Discussion \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/91226371416?pwd=SGZ6VTRCb055T1FxenNCbGU0V3ZaZz09\nPassword: 520926 \nRoundtable Artist Bios:\n2019/2020 Kendeda Winner:\n\n\n\n\nSteph Del Rosso\, 53% Of\nSteph Del Rosso is a writer based in New York. Her plays include: 53% Of (Alliance/ Kendeda winner)\, The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, 2021)\, Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill (The Flea)\, Machinalia (JACK)\, Are You There? (UC-San Diego)\, You’re Crazy (a play with karaoke) (IAMA New Works Festival)\, and Life Savers. Her work has been developed at The Kennedy Center\, The Lark\, Ojai Playwrights’ Conference\, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference\, Colt Coeur\, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, the Los Angeles Theatre Center\, New York Stage and Film\, SPACE on Ryder Farm\, and others. She is the 19/20 Shank Playwright in Residence at The Public Theater and is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and Clubbed Thumb’s Emerging Writers’ Group. She is commissioned by Studio Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse and teaches Playwriting at NYU. \n\n\n\n\nKendeda Finalists:\n\n\n\n\nAva Geyer\, Monster \nAva Geyer received her BA from Princeton University in 2015 and MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego in 2019. Geyer is currently the Shank Resident Playwright at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater\, a member of EST/Youngblood\, and under commission by La Jolla Playhouse. She is a recipient of Theater Masters’ 2020 Visionary Award. Her play Monster was a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. She was a finalist for the 2019/2020 Jerome Fellowship and semi-finalist for the Ingram New Works Lab. Her play Fruit Snacks appeared at the Hopeful Decade event in Williamsburg\, Brooklyn in January 2020. Her play B-Storm appeared at Theatre Row in May 2019 as part of Theater Masters’ Take Ten program honoring the best short plays by MFA playwrights across the country. Past plays include SERE (Wagner New Play Festival 2018) and Baby Teeth (WNPF ’17).   \n\n\n\n\nLogan Faust\, Unkindness\nLogan Faust is a Louisiana-born\, New York-based playwright\, television writer\, and actor who holds his Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. Before moving to New York\, he lived in New Orleans\, where he received his BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans. He currently works as Showrunner’s Assistant for Filthy Rich\, airing on Fox this Spring. A lifelong Southerner\, Faust’s work grapples with questions of religion\, absurdity\, and the End of the World; and are inspired by Samuel Beckett\, Flannery O’Connor\, Martin McDonagh\, and\, of course\, Tennessee Williams.  \n\n\n\n\nInna Tsyrlin\, Stitched With a Sickle and a Hammer\nInna Tsyrlin was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Australia during the collapse of the socialist state. Her work responds to ideas of political freedom through the lens of historical and current events\, identity in a diaspora\, and society’s responsibility to the natural environment. She received the Trisolini Graduate Fellowship (Ohio University) for her play Stitched with a Sickle and Hammer\, and the play was the 2019 Renaissance Theaterworks New Play Festival finalist (Milwaukee\, WI) and 2020 Alliance/Kendeda Playwriting Competition finalist (Atlanta\, GA). Her work has been presented in New York City at The Rising Sun Performance Company\, Emerging Artists Theater\, HB Playwrights Theatre\, and Manhattan Repertory Theater. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. More about Inna: innatsyrlin.org  \n\n\n\n\nCary Simowitz\, Djarum Vanilla\nCary Simowitz recently graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater\, Film\, and Television with his Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting. He is the author of five full-length plays\, three one acts\, and several ten- minute pieces\, in addition to multiple works of poetry and short fiction. He received his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 2016 and is licensed to practice law in Missouri and New York. Cary’s plays have collectively garnered him modest recognition in over two-dozen competitions across the country. He twice participated in the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival in 2014 and 2015 with his plays\, Ekphasia and The Divine Buoyancy of Being\, respectively. His play\, Djarum Vanilla\, was developed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of their MFA New Play Festival\, in association with the National New Play Network and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Moreover\, this play received the Kennedy Center’s 2019 Rosa Parks Award for “Distinguished Achievement\,” the 2017 Tim Robbins Award in Playwriting\, the 2016 Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting\, the 2016 Dramatics Club of St. Louis Award\, semifinalist status in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2017 National Playwrights Conference\, and finalist status in Panndora Productions’s 10th Annual New Works Festival. His play\, A Wolf’s Mother\, was produced at UCLA as part of its 2019 MFA New Play Festival and was subsequently given a workshop production at the Garage Theater in Long Beach\, California\, as a winner of Panndora Production’s 12th Annual New Works Festival. His most recent project\, All the Oxytocin at Your Fingertips was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2020 National Playwrights Conference and is still under adjudication for the finals.   \n\n\n\n\nAtlanta Playwrights:\n\n\n\n\nMary Lynn Owen\nMary Lynn Owen is an Atlanta-based theater artist with a career spanning over forty years. Her first full-length script\, KNEAD\, a one-person play in which she also performed\, received its world premiere at The Alliance Theatre in November 2018.  KNEAD\, the recipient of the 2019 Gene Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award and The Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Lab Award\, was also a semi-finalist for the 2017 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference.  Mary Lynn’s second full-length play\, LADY PARTS\, was a semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference\, a selection for the 2019 Working Title Playwrights First Light Series\, and a selection for Theatrical Outfit’s 2020 Unexpected Play Festival.  Mary Lynn’s commissions include a ten-minute play\, TRAILERS\, for the 2019 MoJo Festival and the recent ’22 Homes Project’ by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Her writing residencies include Cottages at Hedgebrook in Langley\, WA and The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap\, GA. As an actor\, Mary Lynn is a two-time Suzi Award winner for both Outstanding Performer in a Leading Role (WIT – Aurora Theatre) and Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role (THE LITTLE FOXES – Theatre in the Square) and an eight-time Suzi nominee. Recently\, she assumed the traditionally male role of The Stage Manager in the historic repertory of OUR TOWN and THE LARAMIE PROJECT at Theatrical Outfit.  She is a faculty member of Emory University’s Theater Studies Department where she teaches Introduction to Acting and yearly workshops in Teaching as Performance. Also at Emory\, she has curated for the Brave New Works Festival and developed an ongoing collaboration with the Spanish and Portuguese Department in the production of both new and classical Spanish/Latinx Theater.  She co-created the popular course\, ‘Taller de Teatro en Español – a Theater Workshop in Spanish\,’ a class designed to improve Spanish language proficiency through the use of Theater techniques.   \n\n\n\n\nWill Power\nWill Power is an internationally renowned playwright\, performer\, lyricist and educator. His plays and performances have been seen in hundreds of theaters and concert halls throughout the world including Lincoln Center (New York)\, The Public Theater (New York)\, The Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.)\, The Sydney Opera House\, as well as numerous venues in Asia\, Africa\, Europe and throughout North America.  Called “The best verse playwright in America” by New York Magazine\, Mr. Power is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is known as one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip hop theater\, a late 20th Century art form that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton\, as well as dozens of hip hop education programs being established throughout the country. Power is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals. His straight play\, Fetch Clay\, Make Man\, has been produced in various LORT theaters and regional companies including the McCarter Theater\, New York Theater Workshop\, the Round House Theater\, True Colors Theater Company\, The Ensemble Theater\, and Marin Theater Company to name a few. Other plays include Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Company)\, Five Fingers of Funk (Children’s Theater Company)\, The Seven (La Jolla Playhouse\, New York Theater Workshop\, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company)\, Seize the King (La Jolla Playhouse\, The Alliance Theater)\, and Detroit Red (Arts Emerson). Power’s collaboration with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and composer Julia Wolfe resulted in the performance piece Steel Hammer (Humana Festival\, UCLA Live\, Brooklyn Academy of Music\, plus World tour). Power has received numerous awards for his work as a writer and performer in the field including The Doris Duke Artist Award\, an Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Grant\, a Lucille Lortel Award\, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship\, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant\, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award\, a NYFA Award\, and a Joyce Foundation Award. Power is also a passionate teacher of writing and performance. He has held fellowships\, residencies or faculty positions at the City College of New York\, Princeton University\, Wayne State University\, The University of Michigan at Flint\, Southern Methodist University\, the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). Currently\, Will Power is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of theater at Spelman College\, Atlanta. \n\n\n\n\nKimberly Belflower\nKimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play\, Lost Girl\, is published by Samuel French and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include John Proctor is the Villain (2019 Kilroys List)\, Gondal\, The Use of Wildflowers\, and The Sky Game\, which have been commissioned\, produced\, and developed by Ojai Playwrights Conference\, South Coast Repertory Theatre\, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Farm Theatre\, We the Women Collective\, Peppercorn Theatre\, Less Than Rent Theatre\, Cohen New Works Festival\, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly is currently a Playwriting Fellow at Emory University\, and has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf\, Santa Fe’s celebrated immersive arts collective. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. \n\n\n\n\nMark Kendall\nMark Kendall is an Atlanta-based comedian. He is an ensemble member at Dad’s Garage Theatre. His one man show\, “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” was produced by the Alliance Theatre and he continues to tour the show around the country. Mark studied film at Northwestern University. He worked at Comedy Central through the Chris Rock Summer School Program for up and coming comedy writers of color. During his time at Comedy Central\, he got to pitch jokes to the writing staffs of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Mark was the Readers Pick for Best Comedian in Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2019. \n\n\n\n\nSteve Coulter\nSteve Coulter is an Atlanta-based actor and writer. He was the headwriter for both of Tyler Perry’s television series\, House of Payne and Meet the Browns\, where he supervised over 100 episodes and won two consecutive NAACP IMAGE Awards for Best Comedy Series. He wrote Alice Betweenfor the Alliance Theatre and directed the award-winning short film\, The Etiquette Man\, selected by the Sundance Channel and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His screenplay\, Keesha’s House\, won the $100\,000 Southeastern Media Award.  As an actor\, he has had recurring roles in House of Cards\, The Walking Dead\, Brockmire\, and Yellowstone. Most recently\, he appeared in HBO’s Watchmen and the just released The Hunt. \n\n\n\n\nModerator:\n\n\n\n\nRachel Karpf\nRachel Karpf is a cultural producer and was most recently the BOLD Artistic Producer of WP Theater in New York City\, overseeing projects including the Off-Broadway world premieres of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord and Where We Stand. She previously served as Senior Producer for the international creative collective Guerilla Science\, where she produced the multidisciplinary Works on Water Festival and created science-inspired cultural programming in music festivals\, public parks\, nightclubs\, and more. Rachel has also produced and developed new theater with New Georges\, the Public Theater\, New York Theatre Workshop\, Page 73\, and Beth Morrison Projects. As an independent producer\, she has collaborated with artists including Martyna Majok\, Jackson Gay\, Kate Benson\, Lee Sunday Evans\, Obehi Janice\, and Caitlin Sullivan. Rachel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a former Time Warner Foundation Fellow.   \n\n\n\n\nAll events are free and open to the public. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/virtual-play-club-series-4/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/kendeda2_0.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200423T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200423T160000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153408Z
UID:10000331-1587657600-1587657600@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Virtual Play Club Series
DESCRIPTION:Virtual Play Club Series\nThe Alliance Theatre will showcase the finalists of the 16th Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition by making all four scripts available to the public to read between April 9 – 24\, 2020. After the scripts have been available for a week\, the Alliance will begin hosting a free Virtual Play Club series where the public is invited to a live virtual meeting with the playwright to discuss the script. The Virtual Play Club series will culminate with an Artists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall.   \nRead the full scripts here.\nLearn how to read a play here. \nIf you RSVP’d\, you will receive the details for how to access those conversations on the day of your scheduled event.\nVirtual Play Club Schedule\nUnkindness\nby Logan Faust (NYU Tisch)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 16th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Matt Torney and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nUnkindness tells the story of Bonnie\, a grieving mother\, and Elijah\, a would-be prophet\, as they struggle to survive after their only motivations for survival\, their son and faith respectively\, are taken from them. When a desperate young mother with a dying child comes to them for help\, they must confront the only question that matters at the End of the World: what will you do to survive? Inspired by Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood\, the Bible’s First Book of Kings\, and the murder-spree of Bonnie and Clyde\, Unkindness is one Southerner’s attempt to reconcile the destructive and redemptive elements of our myriad\, modern-day interpretations of faith. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Logan Faust\, talking about the play: \n \nDjarum Vanilla\nby Cary Simowitz (UCLA)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 17th at 7:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Keith Bolden and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nNovember 2014. Missouri. The Darren Wilson verdict is imminent. Protests are becoming a daily part of life in Ferguson. The nascent Black Lives Matter movement is gaining national traction as racial tension in Missouri reaches a boiling point. To make matters worse\, rumors perpetuated by the media are spreading about the possibility of a race war igniting between a group of black teenagers and Bosnian immigrants. \nMeanwhile\, ten miles away from Ferguson at an aging gas station/autobody shop\, an unlikely friendship is fostered between a twenty-one-year-old black man named Malcolm and a poverty-stricken\, seventeen-year-old white girl named Bex after the pair discover a secret hidden beneath the front seat of an abandoned Maserati. In the coming weeks\, Malcolm and Bex are forced to test the boundaries of their friendship as the two are confronted with the harsh reality of living in a changing\, unjust America. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Cary Simowitz\, talking about the play: \n \nMonster\nby Ava Geyer (UCSD)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 23rd at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director January LaVoy and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins.  \nWhen self-help guru Drew Capuano’s compulsive masturbation comes to light\, he retains the services of the only person who will still represent him: his power hungry twenty-four year-old female assistant. Meanwhile\, survivor Mona Giotti works to make sure she’s put Drew away for good. Monster is a brutal and brutally funny odyssey through America’s media machine that puts perpetrator and survivor on a collision course of reckoning. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Ava Geyer\, talking about the play: \n \nStitched with a Sickle and a Hammer\nby Inna Tsyrlin (Ohio University)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 24th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Lauren Morris and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nAleksandra\, a political prisoner at a GULAG camp and part of the camp’s theatre troupe\, is forced to help Soviet authorities disguise the existence of the camp in front of a visiting American delegation. She prepares for two roles: the character on stage – Nina from Chekhov’s The Seagull – and the role of an actor who isn’t imprisoned. In the face of totalitarian power\, inside and outside the camp\, Aleksandra must decide whether to comply with the regime that has taken away her freedom or commit an act of counterrevolution. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Inna Tsyrlin\, talking about the play: \n \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Virtual Kendeda Play Club: Stitched with a Sickle and a Hammer \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/98669661579?pwd=TWtMT1c2Q3FxQ1pSSEMwN252a1JUUT09\nPassword: 715537 \nArtists’ Roundtable\nFriday\, April 24 at 5:30pm \nArtists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall. \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Artist Roundtable Discussion \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/91226371416?pwd=SGZ6VTRCb055T1FxenNCbGU0V3ZaZz09\nPassword: 520926 \nRoundtable Artist Bios:\n2019/2020 Kendeda Winner:\n\n\n\n\nSteph Del Rosso\, 53% Of\nSteph Del Rosso is a writer based in New York. Her plays include: 53% Of (Alliance/ Kendeda winner)\, The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, 2021)\, Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill (The Flea)\, Machinalia (JACK)\, Are You There? (UC-San Diego)\, You’re Crazy (a play with karaoke) (IAMA New Works Festival)\, and Life Savers. Her work has been developed at The Kennedy Center\, The Lark\, Ojai Playwrights’ Conference\, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference\, Colt Coeur\, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, the Los Angeles Theatre Center\, New York Stage and Film\, SPACE on Ryder Farm\, and others. She is the 19/20 Shank Playwright in Residence at The Public Theater and is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and Clubbed Thumb’s Emerging Writers’ Group. She is commissioned by Studio Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse and teaches Playwriting at NYU. \n\n\n\n\nKendeda Finalists:\n\n\n\n\nAva Geyer\, Monster \nAva Geyer received her BA from Princeton University in 2015 and MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego in 2019. Geyer is currently the Shank Resident Playwright at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater\, a member of EST/Youngblood\, and under commission by La Jolla Playhouse. She is a recipient of Theater Masters’ 2020 Visionary Award. Her play Monster was a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. She was a finalist for the 2019/2020 Jerome Fellowship and semi-finalist for the Ingram New Works Lab. Her play Fruit Snacks appeared at the Hopeful Decade event in Williamsburg\, Brooklyn in January 2020. Her play B-Storm appeared at Theatre Row in May 2019 as part of Theater Masters’ Take Ten program honoring the best short plays by MFA playwrights across the country. Past plays include SERE (Wagner New Play Festival 2018) and Baby Teeth (WNPF ’17).   \n\n\n\n\nLogan Faust\, Unkindness\nLogan Faust is a Louisiana-born\, New York-based playwright\, television writer\, and actor who holds his Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. Before moving to New York\, he lived in New Orleans\, where he received his BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans. He currently works as Showrunner’s Assistant for Filthy Rich\, airing on Fox this Spring. A lifelong Southerner\, Faust’s work grapples with questions of religion\, absurdity\, and the End of the World; and are inspired by Samuel Beckett\, Flannery O’Connor\, Martin McDonagh\, and\, of course\, Tennessee Williams.  \n\n\n\n\nInna Tsyrlin\, Stitched With a Sickle and a Hammer\nInna Tsyrlin was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Australia during the collapse of the socialist state. Her work responds to ideas of political freedom through the lens of historical and current events\, identity in a diaspora\, and society’s responsibility to the natural environment. She received the Trisolini Graduate Fellowship (Ohio University) for her play Stitched with a Sickle and Hammer\, and the play was the 2019 Renaissance Theaterworks New Play Festival finalist (Milwaukee\, WI) and 2020 Alliance/Kendeda Playwriting Competition finalist (Atlanta\, GA). Her work has been presented in New York City at The Rising Sun Performance Company\, Emerging Artists Theater\, HB Playwrights Theatre\, and Manhattan Repertory Theater. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. More about Inna: innatsyrlin.org  \n\n\n\n\nCary Simowitz\, Djarum Vanilla\nCary Simowitz recently graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater\, Film\, and Television with his Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting. He is the author of five full-length plays\, three one acts\, and several ten- minute pieces\, in addition to multiple works of poetry and short fiction. He received his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 2016 and is licensed to practice law in Missouri and New York. Cary’s plays have collectively garnered him modest recognition in over two-dozen competitions across the country. He twice participated in the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival in 2014 and 2015 with his plays\, Ekphasia and The Divine Buoyancy of Being\, respectively. His play\, Djarum Vanilla\, was developed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of their MFA New Play Festival\, in association with the National New Play Network and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Moreover\, this play received the Kennedy Center’s 2019 Rosa Parks Award for “Distinguished Achievement\,” the 2017 Tim Robbins Award in Playwriting\, the 2016 Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting\, the 2016 Dramatics Club of St. Louis Award\, semifinalist status in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2017 National Playwrights Conference\, and finalist status in Panndora Productions’s 10th Annual New Works Festival. His play\, A Wolf’s Mother\, was produced at UCLA as part of its 2019 MFA New Play Festival and was subsequently given a workshop production at the Garage Theater in Long Beach\, California\, as a winner of Panndora Production’s 12th Annual New Works Festival. His most recent project\, All the Oxytocin at Your Fingertips was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2020 National Playwrights Conference and is still under adjudication for the finals.   \n\n\n\n\nAtlanta Playwrights:\n\n\n\n\nMary Lynn Owen\nMary Lynn Owen is an Atlanta-based theater artist with a career spanning over forty years. Her first full-length script\, KNEAD\, a one-person play in which she also performed\, received its world premiere at The Alliance Theatre in November 2018.  KNEAD\, the recipient of the 2019 Gene Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award and The Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Lab Award\, was also a semi-finalist for the 2017 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference.  Mary Lynn’s second full-length play\, LADY PARTS\, was a semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference\, a selection for the 2019 Working Title Playwrights First Light Series\, and a selection for Theatrical Outfit’s 2020 Unexpected Play Festival.  Mary Lynn’s commissions include a ten-minute play\, TRAILERS\, for the 2019 MoJo Festival and the recent ’22 Homes Project’ by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Her writing residencies include Cottages at Hedgebrook in Langley\, WA and The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap\, GA. As an actor\, Mary Lynn is a two-time Suzi Award winner for both Outstanding Performer in a Leading Role (WIT – Aurora Theatre) and Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role (THE LITTLE FOXES – Theatre in the Square) and an eight-time Suzi nominee. Recently\, she assumed the traditionally male role of The Stage Manager in the historic repertory of OUR TOWN and THE LARAMIE PROJECT at Theatrical Outfit.  She is a faculty member of Emory University’s Theater Studies Department where she teaches Introduction to Acting and yearly workshops in Teaching as Performance. Also at Emory\, she has curated for the Brave New Works Festival and developed an ongoing collaboration with the Spanish and Portuguese Department in the production of both new and classical Spanish/Latinx Theater.  She co-created the popular course\, ‘Taller de Teatro en Español – a Theater Workshop in Spanish\,’ a class designed to improve Spanish language proficiency through the use of Theater techniques.   \n\n\n\n\nWill Power\nWill Power is an internationally renowned playwright\, performer\, lyricist and educator. His plays and performances have been seen in hundreds of theaters and concert halls throughout the world including Lincoln Center (New York)\, The Public Theater (New York)\, The Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.)\, The Sydney Opera House\, as well as numerous venues in Asia\, Africa\, Europe and throughout North America.  Called “The best verse playwright in America” by New York Magazine\, Mr. Power is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is known as one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip hop theater\, a late 20th Century art form that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton\, as well as dozens of hip hop education programs being established throughout the country. Power is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals. His straight play\, Fetch Clay\, Make Man\, has been produced in various LORT theaters and regional companies including the McCarter Theater\, New York Theater Workshop\, the Round House Theater\, True Colors Theater Company\, The Ensemble Theater\, and Marin Theater Company to name a few. Other plays include Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Company)\, Five Fingers of Funk (Children’s Theater Company)\, The Seven (La Jolla Playhouse\, New York Theater Workshop\, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company)\, Seize the King (La Jolla Playhouse\, The Alliance Theater)\, and Detroit Red (Arts Emerson). Power’s collaboration with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and composer Julia Wolfe resulted in the performance piece Steel Hammer (Humana Festival\, UCLA Live\, Brooklyn Academy of Music\, plus World tour). Power has received numerous awards for his work as a writer and performer in the field including The Doris Duke Artist Award\, an Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Grant\, a Lucille Lortel Award\, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship\, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant\, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award\, a NYFA Award\, and a Joyce Foundation Award. Power is also a passionate teacher of writing and performance. He has held fellowships\, residencies or faculty positions at the City College of New York\, Princeton University\, Wayne State University\, The University of Michigan at Flint\, Southern Methodist University\, the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). Currently\, Will Power is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of theater at Spelman College\, Atlanta. \n\n\n\n\nKimberly Belflower\nKimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play\, Lost Girl\, is published by Samuel French and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include John Proctor is the Villain (2019 Kilroys List)\, Gondal\, The Use of Wildflowers\, and The Sky Game\, which have been commissioned\, produced\, and developed by Ojai Playwrights Conference\, South Coast Repertory Theatre\, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Farm Theatre\, We the Women Collective\, Peppercorn Theatre\, Less Than Rent Theatre\, Cohen New Works Festival\, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly is currently a Playwriting Fellow at Emory University\, and has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf\, Santa Fe’s celebrated immersive arts collective. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. \n\n\n\n\nMark Kendall\nMark Kendall is an Atlanta-based comedian. He is an ensemble member at Dad’s Garage Theatre. His one man show\, “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” was produced by the Alliance Theatre and he continues to tour the show around the country. Mark studied film at Northwestern University. He worked at Comedy Central through the Chris Rock Summer School Program for up and coming comedy writers of color. During his time at Comedy Central\, he got to pitch jokes to the writing staffs of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Mark was the Readers Pick for Best Comedian in Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2019. \n\n\n\n\nSteve Coulter\nSteve Coulter is an Atlanta-based actor and writer. He was the headwriter for both of Tyler Perry’s television series\, House of Payne and Meet the Browns\, where he supervised over 100 episodes and won two consecutive NAACP IMAGE Awards for Best Comedy Series. He wrote Alice Betweenfor the Alliance Theatre and directed the award-winning short film\, The Etiquette Man\, selected by the Sundance Channel and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His screenplay\, Keesha’s House\, won the $100\,000 Southeastern Media Award.  As an actor\, he has had recurring roles in House of Cards\, The Walking Dead\, Brockmire\, and Yellowstone. Most recently\, he appeared in HBO’s Watchmen and the just released The Hunt. \n\n\n\n\nModerator:\n\n\n\n\nRachel Karpf\nRachel Karpf is a cultural producer and was most recently the BOLD Artistic Producer of WP Theater in New York City\, overseeing projects including the Off-Broadway world premieres of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord and Where We Stand. She previously served as Senior Producer for the international creative collective Guerilla Science\, where she produced the multidisciplinary Works on Water Festival and created science-inspired cultural programming in music festivals\, public parks\, nightclubs\, and more. Rachel has also produced and developed new theater with New Georges\, the Public Theater\, New York Theatre Workshop\, Page 73\, and Beth Morrison Projects. As an independent producer\, she has collaborated with artists including Martyna Majok\, Jackson Gay\, Kate Benson\, Lee Sunday Evans\, Obehi Janice\, and Caitlin Sullivan. Rachel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a former Time Warner Foundation Fellow.   \n\n\n\n\nAll events are free and open to the public. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/virtual-play-club-series-3/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/kendeda2_0.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200417T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200417T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153408Z
UID:10000330-1587150000-1587150000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Virtual Play Club Series
DESCRIPTION:Virtual Play Club Series\nThe Alliance Theatre will showcase the finalists of the 16th Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition by making all four scripts available to the public to read between April 9 – 24\, 2020. After the scripts have been available for a week\, the Alliance will begin hosting a free Virtual Play Club series where the public is invited to a live virtual meeting with the playwright to discuss the script. The Virtual Play Club series will culminate with an Artists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall.   \nRead the full scripts here.\nLearn how to read a play here. \nIf you RSVP’d\, you will receive the details for how to access those conversations on the day of your scheduled event.\nVirtual Play Club Schedule\nUnkindness\nby Logan Faust (NYU Tisch)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 16th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Matt Torney and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nUnkindness tells the story of Bonnie\, a grieving mother\, and Elijah\, a would-be prophet\, as they struggle to survive after their only motivations for survival\, their son and faith respectively\, are taken from them. When a desperate young mother with a dying child comes to them for help\, they must confront the only question that matters at the End of the World: what will you do to survive? Inspired by Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood\, the Bible’s First Book of Kings\, and the murder-spree of Bonnie and Clyde\, Unkindness is one Southerner’s attempt to reconcile the destructive and redemptive elements of our myriad\, modern-day interpretations of faith. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Logan Faust\, talking about the play: \n \nDjarum Vanilla\nby Cary Simowitz (UCLA)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 17th at 7:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Keith Bolden and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nNovember 2014. Missouri. The Darren Wilson verdict is imminent. Protests are becoming a daily part of life in Ferguson. The nascent Black Lives Matter movement is gaining national traction as racial tension in Missouri reaches a boiling point. To make matters worse\, rumors perpetuated by the media are spreading about the possibility of a race war igniting between a group of black teenagers and Bosnian immigrants. \nMeanwhile\, ten miles away from Ferguson at an aging gas station/autobody shop\, an unlikely friendship is fostered between a twenty-one-year-old black man named Malcolm and a poverty-stricken\, seventeen-year-old white girl named Bex after the pair discover a secret hidden beneath the front seat of an abandoned Maserati. In the coming weeks\, Malcolm and Bex are forced to test the boundaries of their friendship as the two are confronted with the harsh reality of living in a changing\, unjust America. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Cary Simowitz\, talking about the play: \n \nMonster\nby Ava Geyer (UCSD)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 23rd at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director January LaVoy and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins.  \nWhen self-help guru Drew Capuano’s compulsive masturbation comes to light\, he retains the services of the only person who will still represent him: his power hungry twenty-four year-old female assistant. Meanwhile\, survivor Mona Giotti works to make sure she’s put Drew away for good. Monster is a brutal and brutally funny odyssey through America’s media machine that puts perpetrator and survivor on a collision course of reckoning. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Ava Geyer\, talking about the play: \n \nStitched with a Sickle and a Hammer\nby Inna Tsyrlin (Ohio University)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 24th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Lauren Morris and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nAleksandra\, a political prisoner at a GULAG camp and part of the camp’s theatre troupe\, is forced to help Soviet authorities disguise the existence of the camp in front of a visiting American delegation. She prepares for two roles: the character on stage – Nina from Chekhov’s The Seagull – and the role of an actor who isn’t imprisoned. In the face of totalitarian power\, inside and outside the camp\, Aleksandra must decide whether to comply with the regime that has taken away her freedom or commit an act of counterrevolution. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Inna Tsyrlin\, talking about the play: \n \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Virtual Kendeda Play Club: Stitched with a Sickle and a Hammer \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/98669661579?pwd=TWtMT1c2Q3FxQ1pSSEMwN252a1JUUT09\nPassword: 715537 \nArtists’ Roundtable\nFriday\, April 24 at 5:30pm \nArtists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall. \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Artist Roundtable Discussion \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/91226371416?pwd=SGZ6VTRCb055T1FxenNCbGU0V3ZaZz09\nPassword: 520926 \nRoundtable Artist Bios:\n2019/2020 Kendeda Winner:\n\n\n\n\nSteph Del Rosso\, 53% Of\nSteph Del Rosso is a writer based in New York. Her plays include: 53% Of (Alliance/ Kendeda winner)\, The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, 2021)\, Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill (The Flea)\, Machinalia (JACK)\, Are You There? (UC-San Diego)\, You’re Crazy (a play with karaoke) (IAMA New Works Festival)\, and Life Savers. Her work has been developed at The Kennedy Center\, The Lark\, Ojai Playwrights’ Conference\, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference\, Colt Coeur\, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, the Los Angeles Theatre Center\, New York Stage and Film\, SPACE on Ryder Farm\, and others. She is the 19/20 Shank Playwright in Residence at The Public Theater and is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and Clubbed Thumb’s Emerging Writers’ Group. She is commissioned by Studio Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse and teaches Playwriting at NYU. \n\n\n\n\nKendeda Finalists:\n\n\n\n\nAva Geyer\, Monster \nAva Geyer received her BA from Princeton University in 2015 and MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego in 2019. Geyer is currently the Shank Resident Playwright at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater\, a member of EST/Youngblood\, and under commission by La Jolla Playhouse. She is a recipient of Theater Masters’ 2020 Visionary Award. Her play Monster was a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. She was a finalist for the 2019/2020 Jerome Fellowship and semi-finalist for the Ingram New Works Lab. Her play Fruit Snacks appeared at the Hopeful Decade event in Williamsburg\, Brooklyn in January 2020. Her play B-Storm appeared at Theatre Row in May 2019 as part of Theater Masters’ Take Ten program honoring the best short plays by MFA playwrights across the country. Past plays include SERE (Wagner New Play Festival 2018) and Baby Teeth (WNPF ’17).   \n\n\n\n\nLogan Faust\, Unkindness\nLogan Faust is a Louisiana-born\, New York-based playwright\, television writer\, and actor who holds his Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. Before moving to New York\, he lived in New Orleans\, where he received his BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans. He currently works as Showrunner’s Assistant for Filthy Rich\, airing on Fox this Spring. A lifelong Southerner\, Faust’s work grapples with questions of religion\, absurdity\, and the End of the World; and are inspired by Samuel Beckett\, Flannery O’Connor\, Martin McDonagh\, and\, of course\, Tennessee Williams.  \n\n\n\n\nInna Tsyrlin\, Stitched With a Sickle and a Hammer\nInna Tsyrlin was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Australia during the collapse of the socialist state. Her work responds to ideas of political freedom through the lens of historical and current events\, identity in a diaspora\, and society’s responsibility to the natural environment. She received the Trisolini Graduate Fellowship (Ohio University) for her play Stitched with a Sickle and Hammer\, and the play was the 2019 Renaissance Theaterworks New Play Festival finalist (Milwaukee\, WI) and 2020 Alliance/Kendeda Playwriting Competition finalist (Atlanta\, GA). Her work has been presented in New York City at The Rising Sun Performance Company\, Emerging Artists Theater\, HB Playwrights Theatre\, and Manhattan Repertory Theater. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. More about Inna: innatsyrlin.org  \n\n\n\n\nCary Simowitz\, Djarum Vanilla\nCary Simowitz recently graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater\, Film\, and Television with his Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting. He is the author of five full-length plays\, three one acts\, and several ten- minute pieces\, in addition to multiple works of poetry and short fiction. He received his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 2016 and is licensed to practice law in Missouri and New York. Cary’s plays have collectively garnered him modest recognition in over two-dozen competitions across the country. He twice participated in the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival in 2014 and 2015 with his plays\, Ekphasia and The Divine Buoyancy of Being\, respectively. His play\, Djarum Vanilla\, was developed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of their MFA New Play Festival\, in association with the National New Play Network and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Moreover\, this play received the Kennedy Center’s 2019 Rosa Parks Award for “Distinguished Achievement\,” the 2017 Tim Robbins Award in Playwriting\, the 2016 Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting\, the 2016 Dramatics Club of St. Louis Award\, semifinalist status in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2017 National Playwrights Conference\, and finalist status in Panndora Productions’s 10th Annual New Works Festival. His play\, A Wolf’s Mother\, was produced at UCLA as part of its 2019 MFA New Play Festival and was subsequently given a workshop production at the Garage Theater in Long Beach\, California\, as a winner of Panndora Production’s 12th Annual New Works Festival. His most recent project\, All the Oxytocin at Your Fingertips was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2020 National Playwrights Conference and is still under adjudication for the finals.   \n\n\n\n\nAtlanta Playwrights:\n\n\n\n\nMary Lynn Owen\nMary Lynn Owen is an Atlanta-based theater artist with a career spanning over forty years. Her first full-length script\, KNEAD\, a one-person play in which she also performed\, received its world premiere at The Alliance Theatre in November 2018.  KNEAD\, the recipient of the 2019 Gene Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award and The Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Lab Award\, was also a semi-finalist for the 2017 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference.  Mary Lynn’s second full-length play\, LADY PARTS\, was a semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference\, a selection for the 2019 Working Title Playwrights First Light Series\, and a selection for Theatrical Outfit’s 2020 Unexpected Play Festival.  Mary Lynn’s commissions include a ten-minute play\, TRAILERS\, for the 2019 MoJo Festival and the recent ’22 Homes Project’ by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Her writing residencies include Cottages at Hedgebrook in Langley\, WA and The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap\, GA. As an actor\, Mary Lynn is a two-time Suzi Award winner for both Outstanding Performer in a Leading Role (WIT – Aurora Theatre) and Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role (THE LITTLE FOXES – Theatre in the Square) and an eight-time Suzi nominee. Recently\, she assumed the traditionally male role of The Stage Manager in the historic repertory of OUR TOWN and THE LARAMIE PROJECT at Theatrical Outfit.  She is a faculty member of Emory University’s Theater Studies Department where she teaches Introduction to Acting and yearly workshops in Teaching as Performance. Also at Emory\, she has curated for the Brave New Works Festival and developed an ongoing collaboration with the Spanish and Portuguese Department in the production of both new and classical Spanish/Latinx Theater.  She co-created the popular course\, ‘Taller de Teatro en Español – a Theater Workshop in Spanish\,’ a class designed to improve Spanish language proficiency through the use of Theater techniques.   \n\n\n\n\nWill Power\nWill Power is an internationally renowned playwright\, performer\, lyricist and educator. His plays and performances have been seen in hundreds of theaters and concert halls throughout the world including Lincoln Center (New York)\, The Public Theater (New York)\, The Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.)\, The Sydney Opera House\, as well as numerous venues in Asia\, Africa\, Europe and throughout North America.  Called “The best verse playwright in America” by New York Magazine\, Mr. Power is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is known as one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip hop theater\, a late 20th Century art form that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton\, as well as dozens of hip hop education programs being established throughout the country. Power is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals. His straight play\, Fetch Clay\, Make Man\, has been produced in various LORT theaters and regional companies including the McCarter Theater\, New York Theater Workshop\, the Round House Theater\, True Colors Theater Company\, The Ensemble Theater\, and Marin Theater Company to name a few. Other plays include Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Company)\, Five Fingers of Funk (Children’s Theater Company)\, The Seven (La Jolla Playhouse\, New York Theater Workshop\, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company)\, Seize the King (La Jolla Playhouse\, The Alliance Theater)\, and Detroit Red (Arts Emerson). Power’s collaboration with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and composer Julia Wolfe resulted in the performance piece Steel Hammer (Humana Festival\, UCLA Live\, Brooklyn Academy of Music\, plus World tour). Power has received numerous awards for his work as a writer and performer in the field including The Doris Duke Artist Award\, an Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Grant\, a Lucille Lortel Award\, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship\, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant\, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award\, a NYFA Award\, and a Joyce Foundation Award. Power is also a passionate teacher of writing and performance. He has held fellowships\, residencies or faculty positions at the City College of New York\, Princeton University\, Wayne State University\, The University of Michigan at Flint\, Southern Methodist University\, the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). Currently\, Will Power is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of theater at Spelman College\, Atlanta. \n\n\n\n\nKimberly Belflower\nKimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play\, Lost Girl\, is published by Samuel French and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include John Proctor is the Villain (2019 Kilroys List)\, Gondal\, The Use of Wildflowers\, and The Sky Game\, which have been commissioned\, produced\, and developed by Ojai Playwrights Conference\, South Coast Repertory Theatre\, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Farm Theatre\, We the Women Collective\, Peppercorn Theatre\, Less Than Rent Theatre\, Cohen New Works Festival\, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly is currently a Playwriting Fellow at Emory University\, and has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf\, Santa Fe’s celebrated immersive arts collective. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. \n\n\n\n\nMark Kendall\nMark Kendall is an Atlanta-based comedian. He is an ensemble member at Dad’s Garage Theatre. His one man show\, “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” was produced by the Alliance Theatre and he continues to tour the show around the country. Mark studied film at Northwestern University. He worked at Comedy Central through the Chris Rock Summer School Program for up and coming comedy writers of color. During his time at Comedy Central\, he got to pitch jokes to the writing staffs of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Mark was the Readers Pick for Best Comedian in Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2019. \n\n\n\n\nSteve Coulter\nSteve Coulter is an Atlanta-based actor and writer. He was the headwriter for both of Tyler Perry’s television series\, House of Payne and Meet the Browns\, where he supervised over 100 episodes and won two consecutive NAACP IMAGE Awards for Best Comedy Series. He wrote Alice Betweenfor the Alliance Theatre and directed the award-winning short film\, The Etiquette Man\, selected by the Sundance Channel and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His screenplay\, Keesha’s House\, won the $100\,000 Southeastern Media Award.  As an actor\, he has had recurring roles in House of Cards\, The Walking Dead\, Brockmire\, and Yellowstone. Most recently\, he appeared in HBO’s Watchmen and the just released The Hunt. \n\n\n\n\nModerator:\n\n\n\n\nRachel Karpf\nRachel Karpf is a cultural producer and was most recently the BOLD Artistic Producer of WP Theater in New York City\, overseeing projects including the Off-Broadway world premieres of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord and Where We Stand. She previously served as Senior Producer for the international creative collective Guerilla Science\, where she produced the multidisciplinary Works on Water Festival and created science-inspired cultural programming in music festivals\, public parks\, nightclubs\, and more. Rachel has also produced and developed new theater with New Georges\, the Public Theater\, New York Theatre Workshop\, Page 73\, and Beth Morrison Projects. As an independent producer\, she has collaborated with artists including Martyna Majok\, Jackson Gay\, Kate Benson\, Lee Sunday Evans\, Obehi Janice\, and Caitlin Sullivan. Rachel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a former Time Warner Foundation Fellow.   \n\n\n\n\nAll events are free and open to the public. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/virtual-play-club-series-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
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SUMMARY:Virtual Play Club Series
DESCRIPTION:Virtual Play Club Series\nThe Alliance Theatre will showcase the finalists of the 16th Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition by making all four scripts available to the public to read between April 9 – 24\, 2020. After the scripts have been available for a week\, the Alliance will begin hosting a free Virtual Play Club series where the public is invited to a live virtual meeting with the playwright to discuss the script. The Virtual Play Club series will culminate with an Artists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall.   \nRead the full scripts here.\nLearn how to read a play here. \nIf you RSVP’d\, you will receive the details for how to access those conversations on the day of your scheduled event.\nVirtual Play Club Schedule\nUnkindness\nby Logan Faust (NYU Tisch)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 16th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Matt Torney and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nUnkindness tells the story of Bonnie\, a grieving mother\, and Elijah\, a would-be prophet\, as they struggle to survive after their only motivations for survival\, their son and faith respectively\, are taken from them. When a desperate young mother with a dying child comes to them for help\, they must confront the only question that matters at the End of the World: what will you do to survive? Inspired by Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood\, the Bible’s First Book of Kings\, and the murder-spree of Bonnie and Clyde\, Unkindness is one Southerner’s attempt to reconcile the destructive and redemptive elements of our myriad\, modern-day interpretations of faith. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Logan Faust\, talking about the play: \n \nDjarum Vanilla\nby Cary Simowitz (UCLA)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 17th at 7:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Keith Bolden and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nNovember 2014. Missouri. The Darren Wilson verdict is imminent. Protests are becoming a daily part of life in Ferguson. The nascent Black Lives Matter movement is gaining national traction as racial tension in Missouri reaches a boiling point. To make matters worse\, rumors perpetuated by the media are spreading about the possibility of a race war igniting between a group of black teenagers and Bosnian immigrants. \nMeanwhile\, ten miles away from Ferguson at an aging gas station/autobody shop\, an unlikely friendship is fostered between a twenty-one-year-old black man named Malcolm and a poverty-stricken\, seventeen-year-old white girl named Bex after the pair discover a secret hidden beneath the front seat of an abandoned Maserati. In the coming weeks\, Malcolm and Bex are forced to test the boundaries of their friendship as the two are confronted with the harsh reality of living in a changing\, unjust America. \nWatch a video of playwright\, Cary Simowitz\, talking about the play: \n \nMonster\nby Ava Geyer (UCSD)\nRead it Now \nThursday\, April 23rd at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director January LaVoy and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins.  \nWhen self-help guru Drew Capuano’s compulsive masturbation comes to light\, he retains the services of the only person who will still represent him: his power hungry twenty-four year-old female assistant. Meanwhile\, survivor Mona Giotti works to make sure she’s put Drew away for good. Monster is a brutal and brutally funny odyssey through America’s media machine that puts perpetrator and survivor on a collision course of reckoning. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Ava Geyer\, talking about the play: \n \nStitched with a Sickle and a Hammer\nby Inna Tsyrlin (Ohio University)\nRead it Now \nFriday\, April 24th at 4:00pm\nIn conversation with the playwright\, director Lauren Morris and associate producer\, Amanda Watkins. \nAleksandra\, a political prisoner at a GULAG camp and part of the camp’s theatre troupe\, is forced to help Soviet authorities disguise the existence of the camp in front of a visiting American delegation. She prepares for two roles: the character on stage – Nina from Chekhov’s The Seagull – and the role of an actor who isn’t imprisoned. In the face of totalitarian power\, inside and outside the camp\, Aleksandra must decide whether to comply with the regime that has taken away her freedom or commit an act of counterrevolution. \nWatch a video of the playwright\, Inna Tsyrlin\, talking about the play: \n \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Virtual Kendeda Play Club: Stitched with a Sickle and a Hammer \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/98669661579?pwd=TWtMT1c2Q3FxQ1pSSEMwN252a1JUUT09\nPassword: 715537 \nArtists’ Roundtable\nFriday\, April 24 at 5:30pm \nArtists Roundtable Discussion moderated by Rachel Karpf\, former Artistic Producer\, WP Theater\, NYC\, and featuring all four Alliance/Kendeda Competition finalists\, as well as Atlanta playwrights Will Power\, Steve Coulter\, Kimberly Belflower\, Mary Lynn Owen\, and Mark Kendall. \nRSVP’s for this event are closed. To join the Zoom call: \nYou are invited to a Zoom webinar.\nWhen: Apr 24\, 2020 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)\nTopic: Artist Roundtable Discussion \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://zoom.us/j/91226371416?pwd=SGZ6VTRCb055T1FxenNCbGU0V3ZaZz09\nPassword: 520926 \nRoundtable Artist Bios:\n2019/2020 Kendeda Winner:\n\n\n\n\nSteph Del Rosso\, 53% Of\nSteph Del Rosso is a writer based in New York. Her plays include: 53% Of (Alliance/ Kendeda winner)\, The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, 2021)\, Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill (The Flea)\, Machinalia (JACK)\, Are You There? (UC-San Diego)\, You’re Crazy (a play with karaoke) (IAMA New Works Festival)\, and Life Savers. Her work has been developed at The Kennedy Center\, The Lark\, Ojai Playwrights’ Conference\, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference\, Colt Coeur\, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, the Los Angeles Theatre Center\, New York Stage and Film\, SPACE on Ryder Farm\, and others. She is the 19/20 Shank Playwright in Residence at The Public Theater and is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and Clubbed Thumb’s Emerging Writers’ Group. She is commissioned by Studio Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse and teaches Playwriting at NYU. \n\n\n\n\nKendeda Finalists:\n\n\n\n\nAva Geyer\, Monster \nAva Geyer received her BA from Princeton University in 2015 and MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego in 2019. Geyer is currently the Shank Resident Playwright at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater\, a member of EST/Youngblood\, and under commission by La Jolla Playhouse. She is a recipient of Theater Masters’ 2020 Visionary Award. Her play Monster was a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. She was a finalist for the 2019/2020 Jerome Fellowship and semi-finalist for the Ingram New Works Lab. Her play Fruit Snacks appeared at the Hopeful Decade event in Williamsburg\, Brooklyn in January 2020. Her play B-Storm appeared at Theatre Row in May 2019 as part of Theater Masters’ Take Ten program honoring the best short plays by MFA playwrights across the country. Past plays include SERE (Wagner New Play Festival 2018) and Baby Teeth (WNPF ’17).   \n\n\n\n\nLogan Faust\, Unkindness\nLogan Faust is a Louisiana-born\, New York-based playwright\, television writer\, and actor who holds his Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. Before moving to New York\, he lived in New Orleans\, where he received his BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans. He currently works as Showrunner’s Assistant for Filthy Rich\, airing on Fox this Spring. A lifelong Southerner\, Faust’s work grapples with questions of religion\, absurdity\, and the End of the World; and are inspired by Samuel Beckett\, Flannery O’Connor\, Martin McDonagh\, and\, of course\, Tennessee Williams.  \n\n\n\n\nInna Tsyrlin\, Stitched With a Sickle and a Hammer\nInna Tsyrlin was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Australia during the collapse of the socialist state. Her work responds to ideas of political freedom through the lens of historical and current events\, identity in a diaspora\, and society’s responsibility to the natural environment. She received the Trisolini Graduate Fellowship (Ohio University) for her play Stitched with a Sickle and Hammer\, and the play was the 2019 Renaissance Theaterworks New Play Festival finalist (Milwaukee\, WI) and 2020 Alliance/Kendeda Playwriting Competition finalist (Atlanta\, GA). Her work has been presented in New York City at The Rising Sun Performance Company\, Emerging Artists Theater\, HB Playwrights Theatre\, and Manhattan Repertory Theater. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. More about Inna: innatsyrlin.org  \n\n\n\n\nCary Simowitz\, Djarum Vanilla\nCary Simowitz recently graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater\, Film\, and Television with his Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting. He is the author of five full-length plays\, three one acts\, and several ten- minute pieces\, in addition to multiple works of poetry and short fiction. He received his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 2016 and is licensed to practice law in Missouri and New York. Cary’s plays have collectively garnered him modest recognition in over two-dozen competitions across the country. He twice participated in the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival in 2014 and 2015 with his plays\, Ekphasia and The Divine Buoyancy of Being\, respectively. His play\, Djarum Vanilla\, was developed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of their MFA New Play Festival\, in association with the National New Play Network and the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Moreover\, this play received the Kennedy Center’s 2019 Rosa Parks Award for “Distinguished Achievement\,” the 2017 Tim Robbins Award in Playwriting\, the 2016 Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting\, the 2016 Dramatics Club of St. Louis Award\, semifinalist status in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2017 National Playwrights Conference\, and finalist status in Panndora Productions’s 10th Annual New Works Festival. His play\, A Wolf’s Mother\, was produced at UCLA as part of its 2019 MFA New Play Festival and was subsequently given a workshop production at the Garage Theater in Long Beach\, California\, as a winner of Panndora Production’s 12th Annual New Works Festival. His most recent project\, All the Oxytocin at Your Fingertips was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2020 National Playwrights Conference and is still under adjudication for the finals.   \n\n\n\n\nAtlanta Playwrights:\n\n\n\n\nMary Lynn Owen\nMary Lynn Owen is an Atlanta-based theater artist with a career spanning over forty years. Her first full-length script\, KNEAD\, a one-person play in which she also performed\, received its world premiere at The Alliance Theatre in November 2018.  KNEAD\, the recipient of the 2019 Gene Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award and The Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Lab Award\, was also a semi-finalist for the 2017 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference.  Mary Lynn’s second full-length play\, LADY PARTS\, was a semi-finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference\, a selection for the 2019 Working Title Playwrights First Light Series\, and a selection for Theatrical Outfit’s 2020 Unexpected Play Festival.  Mary Lynn’s commissions include a ten-minute play\, TRAILERS\, for the 2019 MoJo Festival and the recent ’22 Homes Project’ by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Her writing residencies include Cottages at Hedgebrook in Langley\, WA and The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap\, GA. As an actor\, Mary Lynn is a two-time Suzi Award winner for both Outstanding Performer in a Leading Role (WIT – Aurora Theatre) and Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role (THE LITTLE FOXES – Theatre in the Square) and an eight-time Suzi nominee. Recently\, she assumed the traditionally male role of The Stage Manager in the historic repertory of OUR TOWN and THE LARAMIE PROJECT at Theatrical Outfit.  She is a faculty member of Emory University’s Theater Studies Department where she teaches Introduction to Acting and yearly workshops in Teaching as Performance. Also at Emory\, she has curated for the Brave New Works Festival and developed an ongoing collaboration with the Spanish and Portuguese Department in the production of both new and classical Spanish/Latinx Theater.  She co-created the popular course\, ‘Taller de Teatro en Español – a Theater Workshop in Spanish\,’ a class designed to improve Spanish language proficiency through the use of Theater techniques.   \n\n\n\n\nWill Power\nWill Power is an internationally renowned playwright\, performer\, lyricist and educator. His plays and performances have been seen in hundreds of theaters and concert halls throughout the world including Lincoln Center (New York)\, The Public Theater (New York)\, The Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.)\, The Sydney Opera House\, as well as numerous venues in Asia\, Africa\, Europe and throughout North America.  Called “The best verse playwright in America” by New York Magazine\, Mr. Power is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is known as one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip hop theater\, a late 20th Century art form that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton\, as well as dozens of hip hop education programs being established throughout the country. Power is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals. His straight play\, Fetch Clay\, Make Man\, has been produced in various LORT theaters and regional companies including the McCarter Theater\, New York Theater Workshop\, the Round House Theater\, True Colors Theater Company\, The Ensemble Theater\, and Marin Theater Company to name a few. Other plays include Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Company)\, Five Fingers of Funk (Children’s Theater Company)\, The Seven (La Jolla Playhouse\, New York Theater Workshop\, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company)\, Seize the King (La Jolla Playhouse\, The Alliance Theater)\, and Detroit Red (Arts Emerson). Power’s collaboration with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and composer Julia Wolfe resulted in the performance piece Steel Hammer (Humana Festival\, UCLA Live\, Brooklyn Academy of Music\, plus World tour). Power has received numerous awards for his work as a writer and performer in the field including The Doris Duke Artist Award\, an Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Grant\, a Lucille Lortel Award\, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship\, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant\, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award\, a NYFA Award\, and a Joyce Foundation Award. Power is also a passionate teacher of writing and performance. He has held fellowships\, residencies or faculty positions at the City College of New York\, Princeton University\, Wayne State University\, The University of Michigan at Flint\, Southern Methodist University\, the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). Currently\, Will Power is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of theater at Spelman College\, Atlanta. \n\n\n\n\nKimberly Belflower\nKimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play\, Lost Girl\, is published by Samuel French and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include John Proctor is the Villain (2019 Kilroys List)\, Gondal\, The Use of Wildflowers\, and The Sky Game\, which have been commissioned\, produced\, and developed by Ojai Playwrights Conference\, South Coast Repertory Theatre\, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Farm Theatre\, We the Women Collective\, Peppercorn Theatre\, Less Than Rent Theatre\, Cohen New Works Festival\, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly is currently a Playwriting Fellow at Emory University\, and has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf\, Santa Fe’s celebrated immersive arts collective. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. \n\n\n\n\nMark Kendall\nMark Kendall is an Atlanta-based comedian. He is an ensemble member at Dad’s Garage Theatre. His one man show\, “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” was produced by the Alliance Theatre and he continues to tour the show around the country. Mark studied film at Northwestern University. He worked at Comedy Central through the Chris Rock Summer School Program for up and coming comedy writers of color. During his time at Comedy Central\, he got to pitch jokes to the writing staffs of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Mark was the Readers Pick for Best Comedian in Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2019. \n\n\n\n\nSteve Coulter\nSteve Coulter is an Atlanta-based actor and writer. He was the headwriter for both of Tyler Perry’s television series\, House of Payne and Meet the Browns\, where he supervised over 100 episodes and won two consecutive NAACP IMAGE Awards for Best Comedy Series. He wrote Alice Betweenfor the Alliance Theatre and directed the award-winning short film\, The Etiquette Man\, selected by the Sundance Channel and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His screenplay\, Keesha’s House\, won the $100\,000 Southeastern Media Award.  As an actor\, he has had recurring roles in House of Cards\, The Walking Dead\, Brockmire\, and Yellowstone. Most recently\, he appeared in HBO’s Watchmen and the just released The Hunt. \n\n\n\n\nModerator:\n\n\n\n\nRachel Karpf\nRachel Karpf is a cultural producer and was most recently the BOLD Artistic Producer of WP Theater in New York City\, overseeing projects including the Off-Broadway world premieres of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord and Where We Stand. She previously served as Senior Producer for the international creative collective Guerilla Science\, where she produced the multidisciplinary Works on Water Festival and created science-inspired cultural programming in music festivals\, public parks\, nightclubs\, and more. Rachel has also produced and developed new theater with New Georges\, the Public Theater\, New York Theatre Workshop\, Page 73\, and Beth Morrison Projects. As an independent producer\, she has collaborated with artists including Martyna Majok\, Jackson Gay\, Kate Benson\, Lee Sunday Evans\, Obehi Janice\, and Caitlin Sullivan. Rachel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a former Time Warner Foundation Fellow.   \n\n\n\n\nAll events are free and open to the public. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/virtual-play-club-series/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/kendeda2_0.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200501T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200501T180000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153404Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153404Z
UID:10000327-1588356000-1588356000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Storytelling and Community
DESCRIPTION:What can theatre do at a moment of public crisis? Join us on Facebook Live for a conversation between Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Pearl Cleage that addresses how storytelling can sustain community during a period of crisis. \nKajese-Bolden and Cleage will discuss the play Sweat as a response to the 2008 economic crisis\, highlighting the voices of local experts on labor and immigration advocacy\, and reflect on their own journey as theater artists striving to center social issues in their work. The Facebook Live conversation will feature special guests from Atlanta’s theater community responding to how arts can address pressing civic concerns in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. Q&A to follow. \nTune In Here \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nTinashe Kajese-Bolden (Director) has directed a critically acclaimed production of Eclipsed at Synchronicity Theater (Best Director\, Suzi Bass Award); Graveyard Shift (finalist for the Kendeda playwriting festival); Nick’s Flamingo Grill with us at the Alliance\, and Atlanta 24 Hour Play event with Working Title Playwrights. Other directing credits include In The Continuum at Clark Atlanta University\, Blood On A Cat’s Neck\, Armory Theater and she will next be directing Native Garden at Virginia Stage. As an actor\, her Alliance Theatre credits include Hospice + Pointing at the Moon\, Shakespeare In Love\, Disgraced\, Blues For an Alabama Sky. Recently\, she remounted her role of Shelly in the Kenny Leon directed production of DOT by Coleman Domingo at the Billie Holiday Theater in New York. My eternal gratitude and love to my husband\, Keith\, for always pushing me to never give up!  \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nPearl Cleage (Playwright) is currently Mellon Playwright in Residence at the Alliance Theatre. Her world premieres at the Alliance include Angry\, Raucous\, and Shamelessly Gorgeous\, Pointing at the Moon\, What I Learned in Paris\, The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years\, Tell Me My Dream\, Blues for an Alabama Sky and Flyin’ West. She also serves as playwright for the Palefsky Collision Project\, an Alliance program for Atlanta area high school students. She and her husband\, writer Zaron W. Burnett\, Jr.\, recently collaborated with artist Radcliffe Bailey on In My Granny’s Garden\, a children’s book\, for The Mayor’s Reading Club 2019.
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/storytelling-and-community/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200724T235900
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200724T235900
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153404Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153404Z
UID:10000326-1595635140-1595635140@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Buy an Alliance Theatre T-Shirt
DESCRIPTION:Buy an Alliance Theatre T-Shirt \nYour Story. Your Stage. Even when we’re away.\nThe theater is where our collective stories are brought to life. Help the Alliance continue to expand hearts and minds on stage and off.\n​ \nTaking inspiration from the curved woodwork of the new Coca-Cola Stage at the Alliance Theatre\, this shirt lets you show your Alliance pride even while we are away from the theater. \nLike the ghost light that keeps our stage illuminated during dark times\, blue and teal glow across the arcs to shine light on the diverse stories we tell. \nBy supporting the Alliance\, you make possible our mission to expand hearts and minds on stage and off through innovative storytelling\, education outreach\, and deep engagement with our Atlanta community. \nBuy an Alliance Theatre T-Shirt
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/buy-an-alliance-theatre-t-shirt-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Offstage
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/flatlay-alternate1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200710T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200710T000000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153403Z
UID:10000325-1594339200-1594339200@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Buy an Alliance Theatre T-Shirt
DESCRIPTION:Buy an Alliance Theatre T-Shirt \nYour Story. Your Stage. Even when we’re away.\nThe theater is where our collective stories are brought to life. Help the Alliance continue to expand hearts and minds on stage and off.\n​ \nTaking inspiration from the curved woodwork of the new Coca-Cola Stage at the Alliance Theatre\, this shirt lets you show your Alliance pride even while we are away from the theater. \nLike the ghost light that keeps our stage illuminated during dark times\, blue and teal glow across the arcs to shine light on the diverse stories we tell. \nBy supporting the Alliance\, you make possible our mission to expand hearts and minds on stage and off through innovative storytelling\, education outreach\, and deep engagement with our Atlanta community. \nBuy an Alliance Theatre T-Shirt
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/buy-an-alliance-theatre-t-shirt/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Offstage
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/flatlay-alternate1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201031T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201031T153000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153350Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153350Z
UID:10000324-1604158200-1604158200@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Buy a Cloth Face Covering from our Costume Shop
DESCRIPTION:Buy a Cloth Face Covering from our Costume Shop\n \nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all Americans to cover their faces while out in public to prevent the spread of the COVID-19\, and face masks have been in high demand. In response\, artists from our costume shop have been making fabric face masks and distributing them to Emory Healthcare for weeks. To date we’ve delivered over 3\,000 fabric face masks to frontline workers\, and now\, we’d like to make them available to you for $10 per mask.* \nHere are some key fundamentals to wearing a cloth face covering correctly: \nOne of the most important requirements of an effective cloth face covering is that it covers your mouth and nose\, and fits snugly along all sides of your face―you don’t want any gaps that’ll allow extra air or virus particles to flow in. Keep in mind that wearing a nonsurgical face mask cannot completely prevent you from contracting COVID-19―if anything\, wearing a cloth face covering does more to prevent you from spreading the disease than it does to keep you from catching it. \nPurchase\n*Your purchase directly supports the work of the Alliance Theatre. Only available for shipping to the state of Georgia. For large orders (over 9 masks) please contact our group services department at 404-733-4690.
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/buy-a-cloth-face-covering-from-our-costume-shop-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/masks_4.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200724T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200724T153000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153350Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153350Z
UID:10000323-1595604600-1595604600@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Buy a Cloth Face Covering from our Costume Shop
DESCRIPTION:Buy a Cloth Face Covering from our Costume Shop\n \nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all Americans to cover their faces while out in public to prevent the spread of the COVID-19\, and face masks have been in high demand. In response\, artists from our costume shop have been making fabric face masks and distributing them to Emory Healthcare for weeks. To date we’ve delivered over 3\,000 fabric face masks to frontline workers\, and now\, we’d like to make them available to you for $10 per mask.* \nHere are some key fundamentals to wearing a cloth face covering correctly: \nOne of the most important requirements of an effective cloth face covering is that it covers your mouth and nose\, and fits snugly along all sides of your face―you don’t want any gaps that’ll allow extra air or virus particles to flow in. Keep in mind that wearing a nonsurgical face mask cannot completely prevent you from contracting COVID-19―if anything\, wearing a cloth face covering does more to prevent you from spreading the disease than it does to keep you from catching it. \nPurchase\n*Your purchase directly supports the work of the Alliance Theatre. Only available for shipping to the state of Georgia. For large orders (over 9 masks) please contact our group services department at 404-733-4690.
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/buy-a-cloth-face-covering-from-our-costume-shop/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/masks_4.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200831T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200831T090000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153349Z
UID:10000322-1598864400-1598864400@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Native Guard
DESCRIPTION:Following our critically acclaimed 2014 premiere and 2017 production at the Atlanta History Center of Natasha Tretheway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of poetry\, LA Theatre Works captured an audio recording with our original cast including January LaVoy\, Neal Ghant\, and Nicole Banks Long\, with original music by Tyrone Jackson. Native Guard is both an elegy to her mother and a journey into Mississippi’s Civil War history. In poetry and song\, she reflects on her mother’s passing while contemplating the former slaves who became soldiers in a regiment known as the Native Guard. We’d like to reshare this story with you. Purchase a mp3 download of the audio play recording through LA Theatre Works for $4.99. \nListen\nThis recording was produced with the generous support of The Poetry Foundation. \nRecorded at The Invisible Studios\, West Hollywood in July 2018. \nWritten by Natasha Tretheway\nOur production was originally directed by Susan V. Booth\nComposer and Music Director\, Tyrone Jackson\nOriginal Sound Design\, Clay Benning\nJanuary LaVoy as The Poet\nThomas Neal Antwon Ghant as the Native Guard\nAnd featuring Nicole Banks Long on vocals and Tyrone Jackson on piano
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/native-guard-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Native-Guard_teaser_01_2_0_0.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200501T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200501T090000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153349Z
UID:10000321-1588323600-1588323600@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Native Guard
DESCRIPTION:Following our critically acclaimed 2014 premiere and 2017 production at the Atlanta History Center of Natasha Tretheway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of poetry\, LA Theatre Works captured an audio recording with our original cast including January LaVoy\, Neal Ghant\, and Nicole Banks Long\, with original music by Tyrone Jackson. Native Guard is both an elegy to her mother and a journey into Mississippi’s Civil War history. In poetry and song\, she reflects on her mother’s passing while contemplating the former slaves who became soldiers in a regiment known as the Native Guard. We’d like to reshare this story with you. Purchase a mp3 download of the audio play recording through LA Theatre Works for $4.99. \nListen\nThis recording was produced with the generous support of The Poetry Foundation. \nRecorded at The Invisible Studios\, West Hollywood in July 2018. \nWritten by Natasha Tretheway\nOur production was originally directed by Susan V. Booth\nComposer and Music Director\, Tyrone Jackson\nOriginal Sound Design\, Clay Benning\nJanuary LaVoy as The Poet\nThomas Neal Antwon Ghant as the Native Guard\nAnd featuring Nicole Banks Long on vocals and Tyrone Jackson on piano
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/native-guard/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Native-Guard_teaser_01_2_0_0.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200725T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200725T143000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153348Z
UID:10000320-1595687400-1595687400@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:19th Annual Palefsky Collision Project Performance
DESCRIPTION:Alliance Theatre Palefsky Collision Project performance\nJuly 25\, 2:30 PM\nRSVP for free tickets to this live streamed performance HERE \nThe Alliance Theatre’s Palefsky Collision Project\, now in its 19th year\, is a program that gives high-school students a platform to tackle important social issues. Under the guidance of Playwright & Author Pearl Cleage\, twenty Atlanta students will devise and present a world premiere play inspired by the novel White Rose. Based on the true story of the student-led resistance group who challenged the Nazi regime during World War II\, White Rose is an inspiring story that allows the teens to explore ideas of what it means to be an ally to oppressed people and how young people can respond to injustice. \nLearn more about the Palefsky Collision Project here \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/19th-annual-palefsky-collision-project-performance/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/collision-20202_1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201008T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201008T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153346Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153346Z
UID:10000319-1602183600-1602183600@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Recasting the Black Image
DESCRIPTION:In Partnership with    \nAn event about reckoning with the stereotype of the “Black Male”. This artistic presentation and conversation focuses on demands placed on Black men by society and mainstream media and the ways artist-activists are reshaping this image. Featuring screenings of film shorts from the co-directors of Hands Up\, Alexis Woodard and Keith Arthur Bolden\, and artist Mark Kendall.  \nModerated by Carlton Mackey\, Director of Ethics and the Arts Program Emory and Founder of Black Men Smile\nMark Kendall\, Writer\, Actor\, Comedian\, and Creator of The Magic Negro\nEugene H. Russell IV\, Musician\, Songwriter\, Actor\, & Founder of Men Not Myths\nCharles Stephens\, Founder of The Counter Narrative Project\nAnthony Knight\, Educator and Founder of The Baton Foundation \nThursday\, October 8th at 7pm EST \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nCarlton Mackey is the creator of BLACK MEN SMILE®\, a viral social media platform and empowerment movement for Black men to “celebrate the way we see ourselves”.  He is also the creator of the BEAUTIFUL IN EVERY SHADE® an apparel line with a mission of building solidarity among women of color\, and author of 50 Shades of Black: Sexuality and Skin Tone in the Formation of Identity.  \nMackey is the Director of the Ethics & the Arts Program and Associate Director of the Ethics and Servant Leadership (EASL) Program at the Emory University Center for Ethics. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies. In the midst of the national reckoning for racial justice in America and the COVID-19 pandemic\, Mackey along with the Director of the Emory University Center for Creativity and the Arts created the Arts and Social Justice Fellows Program at Emory University. \nAs a community advocate\, Carlton serves on the Atlanta Board of Education Ethics Commission and on the Board of Directors of Foreverfamily\, an Atlanta non-profit surrounding youth with one or more incarcerated parent with the love of family and providing regular visitation trips. \nMackey is a Teaching Artist at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta\, GA. \nMackey’s work blends his unique combination of social consciousness\, creativity\, scholarship\, and social connection to create powerful impressions that invite new discovery and personal transformation. \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nMark Kendall is an Atlanta-based comedian. His one person show\, “The Magic Negro and Other Blackness” was produced by Dad’s Garage Theatre and the Alliance Theatre and also performed at ARS Nova’s ANTFEST in NYC and The New Ground Play Festival at The Cleveland Playhouse. He completed the Comedy Central Chris Rock Summer School Program\, where he pitched jokes at “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Mark was named best Professional Funnyman by Creative Loafing in 2015 and was the Readers Pick for Best Comedian in Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2019. \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nEugene H. Russell IV\, born and raised in southwest Atlanta\, is a multi-talented vocalist\, musician\, songwriter\, and award-winning actor. His regional theatre credits include East Texas Hotlinks (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company)\, Five Guys Named Moe (Theatrical Outfit)\, Dutchman (Nebraska Repertory Theatre)\, Nell Gwynn (Synchronicity Theatre)\, Memphis the Musical (Aurora Theatre)\, What I Learned In Paris (Alliance Theatre)\, and Before It Hits Home (St. Louis Black Rep)\, for which he received the prestigious Woodie King\, Jr. Award. A voiceover artist with numerous commercial credits\, Eugene’s film/TV appearances include CBS’s “MacGyver\,” BOUNCE TV’s “Saints & Sinners\,” and FOX’s “Star.” Donning his composer hat\, he wrote the music for the Alliance Theatre TVY world premiere of Beautiful Blackbird\, producing the commercially released cast recording. With his latest single\, “Brand New Day\,” Eugene IV leans into his activist spirit\, sharing his vision of freedom. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nCharles Stephens is the Executive Director of the Counter Narrative Project. He has over 10 years experience developing innovative community engagement initiatives\, piloting programs\, and mobilizing black gay men. He has worked with such organizations as  AIDS United\, AID Atlanta\,  and Kaiser Family Foundation as a consultant\, providing strategic guidance and thought-partnership around program development and policy advocacy with black gay and bisexual men. Past honors include: Georgia State University College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award\, Gentlemen Foundation Gentleman of the Year Service Award\, Arcus Leadership Fellowship\,  and the Rockwood Leadership Institute Fellow for Racial and Gender Justice Leaders in the HIV/AIDS Movement. His writings have appears in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution\, Creative Loafing\, Atlanta Magazine\, and he is a columnist at The Advocate.  \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nAnthony Knight is the Founder\, President & CEO of The Baton Foundation—a nonprofit organization that serves the emotional\, intellectual and cultural needs of Black boys ages10-17. Before founding the Foundation\, Mr. Knight worked for twenty-two years as a museum educator and consultant. Mr. Knight has extensive experience with and interest in African American history and culture\, public and living history\, informal education and Black youth. Mr. Knight’s work with The Baton Foundation reflects his ongoing interest in the issues and practices related to the collecting\, preservation and interpretation of information about and material culture from the African Diaspora. Mr. Knight’s undergraduate work was in Spanish and English (Ohio Wesleyan University)\, and his graduate work was in museum education (The George Washington University). Mr. Knight also holds a degree in Spanish-to-English translation from the Núcleo de Estudios Lingüísticos y Sociales\, Caracas\, Venezuela. Mr. Knight is a New York City native. \n\n\n\n\nSee additional conversations and events taking place as part of the HANDS UP ATLANTA: Art & Activism series. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/recasting-the-black-image/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/handsup-preview.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201015T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201015T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153346Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153346Z
UID:10000318-1602788400-1602788400@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Black LGBTQ Narratives
DESCRIPTION:In Partnership with \nThis conversation focuses on the intersections of Black\, gay\, and trans identities\, and the legacy and work of Black artists within both the Black Lives Matter movement and LGBTQ rights movement. Featuring a screening of a film short from the co-directors of Hands Up\, introduced by playwright Nathan Yungerberg\, and a performance from artist E. Patrick Johnson. \nModerated by Charles Stephens\, The Counter Narrative Project\nE. Patrick Johnson\, Performer and Professor of African American Studies; Author of Sweet Tea\nNathan Yungerberg\, Playwright and Author of “Holes in My Identity”\nTrevor Perry\, Actor and Drag Performer\nThandiwe Thomas DeShazor\, Writer\, Actor\, Comedian\nTAYLOR ALXNDR\, Musician\, Drag Performer\, and Community Organizer \nThursday\, October 15th at 7pm EST\n  \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\nCharles Stephens is the Founder and Executive Director of the Counter Narrative Project. He is committed to working at the intersection of art\, culture\, and social justice. Charles served as the Conference Organizer for the historic 2014 conference “Whose Beloved Community Black Civil and LGBT Rights” at Emory University. He also led the innovative social marketing campaign “From Where I Stand” for AID Atlanta. The anthology he co-edited Black Gay Genius\, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Charlies received the Georgia State University College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award and received the Gentleman of the Year Award from the Gentlemen’s Foundation. He has also been a CDC Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership Fellow\, an Arcus Foundation Executive Director Fellow\, and a Rockwood Leader in the HIV movement fellow.  His writings have appeared in the AJC\, Atlanta Magazine\, and Creative Loafing. He previously wrote a column for Advocate magazine and Georgia Voice focused on Black LGBTQ+ politics and culture. A native Georgian\, Charles received his B.A. from Georgia State University in 2005. He is also a member of the Alliance Theatre Advisory Board. \n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nE. Patrick Johnson is Dean of the School of Communication and Annenberg University Professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies at Northwestern University. He is a 2020 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A scholar/artist\, Johnson performs nationally and internationally and has published widely in the areas of race\, gender\, sexuality and performance. Johnson is a prolific performer and scholar\, and an inspiring teacher\, whose research and artistry has greatly impacted African American studies\, Performance studies\, and Gender and Sexuality studies. He is the author of Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity (Duke UP\, 2003)\, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History (University of North Carolina UP\, 2008); Black. Queer. Southern. Women.—An Oral History (University of North Carolina Press\, 2018)\, and\, Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women (Duke UP\, 2019). He is the editor of Cultural Struggles: Performance\, Ethnography\, Praxis by Dwight Conquergood (Michigan UP\, 2013); No Tea\, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies (Duke UP\, 2016); and the co-editor (with Mae G. Henderson) of Black Queer Studies—A Critical Anthology (Duke UP\, 2005); and (with Ramón Rivera-Servera) of solo/black/woman: scripts\, interviews\, and essays (Northwestern UP\, 2013) and Blacktino Queer Performance (Duke UP\, 2016).  \nHe has received multiple awards for his scholarship\, including the Lilla A. Heston Award\, the Errol Hill Book Award\, Hurston/Wright Legacy Book Finalist\, Stonewall Book Award Honor Book\, Lambda Literary LGBTQ Studies Book Award Finalist\, the Randy Majors Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to LGBT Scholarship in Communication\, Publishing Triangle Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction Finalist\, Lambda Literary LGBTQ Anthology Award Finalist. \nJohnson’s performance work dovetails with his written work. His staged reading\, “Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales” is based on his book\, Sweet Tea\, and has toured to over 100 college campuses from 2006 to the present\, and his full-length stage play\, Sweet Tea—The Play\, premiered in Chicago and toured to Austin\, Texas\, Washington\, DC\, New York\, Los Angeles\, Providence\, Rhode Island\, Durham\, North Carolina and the National Black Theater Festival. The playscript was published by Northwestern University Press (2020). He is one of the subjects and co-executive producer (with John L. Jackson\, Jr.) of the documentary\, Making Sweet Tea\, based on his book and play. \nJohnson has received many awards for his performance work\, including the Leslie Irene Coger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Performance from the National Communication Association\, the Bert Williams Award for Best Solo Performance\, from the Chicago Black Theater Alliance\, and the René Castillo Otto Award for Political Theater. And his film Making Sweet Tea has also received several awards\, including the Judges’ Choice Award at the Longleaf Film Festival\, Best Documentary Audience Award at the Kansas City International Film Festival\, Best LGBTQ Film at the San Diego Film Festival\, Best Documentary Audience Award at the Out on Film Festival\, and the Silver Image Award from the Association of American Retired Persons (AARP) for Positive Representation of LGBTQ People over Fifty at the Chicago Reeling LGBTQ Film Festival. In 2010 he was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\nNathan Yungerberg is a Brooklyn-based Afrosurrealist and storyteller whose plays have been developed or featured by The Cherry Lane Theatre\, JAG Productions\, LAByrinth Theater\, Lorraine Hansberry Theater\, The National Black Theatre\, The Fire This Time Festival\, 48 Hours in Harlem\, The Lark\, Roundabout Theatre Company\, The Playwrights’ Center\, American Blues Theater\, Crowded Fire Theater Climate Change Theatre Action\, The Sheen Center\, The August Wilson Red Door Project\, Climate Change Theatre Action\, The Bushwick Starr\, and BBC Radio Afternoon Drama. He is one of seven Black playwrights commissioned by The New Black Fest for HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights\, 7 Testaments\, which was published by Samuel French. Awards and honors: 2017 Mentor Project with Stephen Adly Guirgis\, Blue Ink Playwriting Award (Finalist)\, 2019 Djerassi Resident Artist\, The 2016 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference (Semifinalist)\, Ken Davenport 10-Minute Play Festival (Winner). \n\n\n\n​ \n\nTrevor Rayshay Perry; They/Them is beyond thrilled to be a part of this panel. As an non-binary artist Trevor lives for new and intresting works and is so thankful for an opportunity that lets them represent their community. Previous Atlanta credits include: Pythio in Head Over Heels (Actor’s Express)\, Ensemble/Soloist in RENT (Actor’s Express)\, Eat Moe in Five Guys Named Moe (Theatrical Outfit)\, Willie in The View Upstairs (Out Front Theatre)\, and The Emcee in The Red Room Cabaret (The Alliance Theatre). Trevor is a graduate of Western Carolina University with a B.F.A. in Theatre with a concentration in acting. While there he studied with Broadway legend Terrence Mann. They would like to thank their partner Nicholas for all of his support and love! They would also love to dedicate this show to the memory to their mother Maxine. Follow them @MusicklyGifted on Instagram\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nThandiwe Thomas DeShazor is an Atlanta based actor\, writer\, producer\, and director. He is an alumnus of Oakland University’s Meadowbrook Theater Apprenticeship Program and a recipient of the San Francisco’s Queer Cultural Center Grant for his one-man-show “Children of the Last Days”\, a comedy about the intersections of Black church and the LGBT community. Thandiwe has performed and collaborated on new and experimental work throughout the country including “Before the Dream: The Mysterious Life and Death Of Richard Wright” (Oakland Public Theater)\, “Pomo Afro Homo’s Fierce Love” (National Tour)\, and “Armstrong’s Kid” (off-Broadway). Thandiwe is a founding board member of Oakland LGBT Pride and served as their marketing chair in 2010 and 2011. Thandiwe served as the Artistic Director director of Black Girlz Productions a touring urban theater company. \nSince moving to Atlanta\, his theater credits include\, “Tomcat”\, The Legend Of Georgia McBride” (Actor’s Express”) and “Angels in America” (Actor’s Express). Thandi’s tv credits include Homicide Hunter\, Swamp Murders Fatal Attraction. He can be seen in 2018 in Murder Chose Me and in a re-occurring role in AMC’s Lodge 49. Thandi’s artist collaboration business\, Thandi & Company has partnered with Blake Vision Entertainment to write and produce musical biographies of soul music legends\, Little Richard\, Diana Ross\, and Aretha Franklin and tour throughout metro Atlanta. \nSince the pandemic\, Thandi accidentally became an essential worker. He began the year teaching acting/improv to at risk emerging adults interested in careers in the arts. Because the facility provides essential needs (showers\, food\, etc.) he’s become essential. \nHe’s also been directing productions and readings in the zoom platform; “one in two” by Donja R. Love\, “The Grand Transsexual Draweth Nigh” by Sloka Krishnan and currently The Harlem Connection: Paris\, Negritude\, and the Harlem Renaissance with Théâtre du Rêve\, Atlanta’s French language theater company. \nHe and his husband live in Atlanta with their 7 year old daughter. \n\n\n\n\n​ \n\n\nTAYLOR ALXNDR (they/she) is a DIY musician\, drag performer\, and community organizer based in Atlanta\, GA. Raised in the rural edges of the metro area\, ALXNDR has been creating in and captivating Atlanta and beyond since 2011. \nALXNDR is the co-founder and current executive director of Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP)\, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization empowering Black queer and QTPOC centered communities in the South through the arts. They are also the mother of the House of ALXNDR\, an Atlanta-based drag family and events hub\, creating drag-centered\, inclusive events. \n\n\n\n\nSee additional conversations and events taking place as part of the HANDS UP ATLANTA: Art & Activism series. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/black-lgbtq-narratives/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
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ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201025T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201025T150000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251015T202015Z
UID:10000316-1603638000-1603638000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Family Event: Hands Up! Engaging the Arts to Raise Anti-Racist Kids
DESCRIPTION:In Partnership with: \nA family-oriented event featuring a reading of the best-selling kids book Hands Up!\, a Q&A with author Breanna J. McDaniel\, and interactive anti-bias and allyship activities for families.  \nRecommended for ages 4-10 and their grown-ups. \nFeaturing:\nBreanna McDaniel\, Author of best-selling kids book Hands Up!\nNaima Carter Russell\, Actress and book advocate @DramaMamaReads\nand Maya Lawrence\, Alliance Theatre’s Allyship Program Director \nSunday\, October 25th at 3pm EST \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nBreanna J. McDaniel is the author of the picture book Hands Up!\, a book reviewer\, education consultant and researcher. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons University and is currently pursuing her PhD in Education at the University of Cambridge with research focused on representations of black children in contemporary picture books. She’s the co-founder of Researchers Exploring Inclusive Youth Literature (REIYL) and though she’s originally from Atlanta\,GA she now splits her time between the US and UK.  \n\n\n\n\n\nNaima Carter Russell is a proud Atlanta actress and a FSU Alumnus with a BA in English and a minor in black studies. She is a Suzi Bass Award winner for her role as Felicia Farrell in Memphis (Aurora Theatre /Theatrical Outfit). She was last seen on the Alliance theatre stage in Pearl Cleage’s The Nacirema Society…and Christmas Carol. Naima is a passionate advocate for diverse books and believes in the power of normalizing Black joy to change a generation. She shares her book recommendations and the drama of mothering 2 girls @DramaMamaReads on Instagram. Also check out her brand new blog at www.itsthedramamama.com\n\n\n\n\n\nMaya Lawrence is a NYC born- Atlanta based multidisciplinary artist\, specializing in theater\, performance\, and poetry. As an actor\, teaching artist\, and facilitator with an audience range from newborns to as long as one can be alive\, she uses her superpowers of creativity\, curiosity\, and compassion to facilitate theatre-based experiences rooted in Anti-Bias work for youth\, families\, corporations\, and organizations in pursuit of becoming the most authentic and empathetic versions of themselves. She is a proud Spelman College alumna\, the Inaugural Spelman Leadership Fellow\, and now Artist-in-residence/ Allyship Program Director at the Alliance Theatre. Maya is on a mission to liberate the world through art using radical Love to light the path.\n\n\n\nSee additional conversations and events taking place as part of the HANDS UP ATLANTA: Art & Activism series. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/family-event-hands-up-engaging-the-arts-to-raise-anti-racist-kids/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Offstage
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/handsup-preview_2.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201022T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201022T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153345Z
UID:10000317-1603393200-1603393200@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Racial Healing through Art
DESCRIPTION:In Partnership with: \nThis conversation focuses on the impact of racism and the cultural trope of the “strong Black woman” on the lives of Black women. Join artists\, healers\, and mental health professionals for a discussion of artistic pathways that support activist work around women’s issues and promote healing from racial trauma.  Featuring screenings of film shorts from the co-directors of Hands Up\, introduced by Alexis Woodard. This conversation will be followed by an optional 30min Expressive Arts Workshop by Dr. Wendy Phillips.  \nModerated by Minka Wiltz\, Creator and Host of The Cultural Workers Podcast\nAmanda Washington\, Theater Director\nDr. Wendy Phillips\, Expressive Arts Therapist\nShanequa Gay\, Visual Artist \nDr. Ayanna Abrams\, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Not So Strong \nThursday\, October 22nd at 7pm EST \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nMinka Wiltz is a trained classical singer\, professional stage actor\, and writer. She has collaborated extensively on new and developing works written by playwrights including Robert O’Hara\, Marcus Gardley\, and Kia Corthron. She has performed on the stages of The Alliance Theater\, Horizon Theater\, The Actors Express\, Synchronicity Performance Group\, Working Title Playwrights\, The Atlanta Opera\, San Diego Repertory Theater and The Atlanta Symphony. \nIn 2019\, Minka was honored by Emory University with their Community Artist Impact Award. In 2017\, she received the Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Lead Female Performance in a Musical. Along with being recognized for her storytelling as an actor and singer\, Minka has has also gained recognition as a writer. A three-part narrative inspired by her life as she has survived it thus far\, were conceived and presented at Theater Emory thanks to Jan Akers. The first part of the trilogy\, Shaking The Wind\, was the first musical produced by Out Of Hand Theater as a one woman show in their living room series. Because of it’s great success\, the original closing date was extended from November 2018 to \nOctober 2019 with the last performance at The National Black Theater Festival. Her most recent works as include being commissioned to write the first short play for the highly successful 100 Decatur Dinners which is still inspiring new models for healing across racial lines all over America. \nIn 2020\, Minka was a featured soloist in The Atlanta Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess\, she starred the scripted Podcast The Seventh Daughter which was produced by iHeart Radio and reached the top 10 fictional podcasts on iTunes. Currently\, Minka’s personal podcast The Cultural Workers Podcast is available in video format on her YouTube Channel MinkaWiltz\, on Spotify under The Cultural Workers Podcast\, and on Anchor.fm at https://anchor.fm/minka-wiltz. \nShe is always interested in collaborating with adventurers and has no end of ideas for various genres of artmaking!!! Find out more at minkawiltz.com or email her at minkawiltz@gmail.com. Stay safe\, be courageous! \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nAmanda Washington is a freelance director based in the Atlanta\, Georgia community working in conjunction with Kennesaw State Univeristy’s Department of Theatre and Performance Studies as a part-time Assistant Professor. Shows she has directed consist of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean\, DJanet Sears’s Harlem Duet\, and Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. Washington is also the creator of Theatre From My View. A YouTube channel geared toward exploring theatre through a woman of color’s perspective. Early in 2020\, Amanda started her qualifications to become an Intimacy Director and Choreographer. In May of 2020\, Washington received her Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of Southern Mississippi. Check out her work at www.washingtonamanda.com or visit her YouTube channel Theatre From My View. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nWendy Phillips\, Ph.D.\, LMFT\, REAT\, REACE is a Psychotherapist\, an Expressive Arts Therapist\, a faculty member\, and a Research Psychologist. She is a conceptual visual artist whose favorite practice is analog photography. Wendy is drawn to historical and alternative photographic processes and fiber arts. In her research\, Wendy uses photography as a method of Arts Based inquiry.   \nRecently\, Wendy has been studying and collaborating with artists of African descent in Matanzas\, Cuba learning about the ways artmaking and creative expression are aspects of their Traditional Indigenous spiritual understandings and worldviews.In December\, 2019 she inaugurated an El Colectivo Macondo Expressive Arts Training Program for students in Matanzas\, Cuba by offering Multimodal workshops for adults and children in the Matanzas communities. Together with artists of African descent in Matanzas\, she has been researching the retention and persistence of African Spiritual understandings among people of Arican descent in the United States and the Pacific Coast of Mexico.  \nWendy’s most recent visual arts project uses historical family photos and personal and published oral histories as source material in an exploration of physical and sexual assault of women and non-consensual sexual relationships  as standard practices during slavery. She is interested in the phenomena of cross generational projection of trauma and psychotherapeutic and creative practices that facilitate healing.  \nWendy collaborates with Afro-Cuban director\, Tony Romero in documentary film projects about the experiences of persons of African descent in the Diaspora. The film\, A Sense of Connection about artists of African descent\, spirituality\, and creativity will premiere in Madrid\, Spain on September 16th\, 2020. Their current project\, N-95 documents the experiences  and perspectives of persons in the  African American\, Latinx\, and North American Indigenous communities during the current pandemic.  \nWendy is a faculty member in the Expressive Arts Therapy Concentration at Goddard College\, and is an Adjunct faculty member in the Clinical Psychology and Research Departments at Saybrook University. She is Group Therapist for the students of The Baton Foundation in Atlanta Georgia.  At the present time\, she is engaged in a 3 year long training  program with Robert Bosnak and Jill Fischer in Embodiment Theory and Embodied Imagination Dreamwork. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nShanequa Gay\, an Atlanta native\, received her BA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and an MFA at Georgia State University. Gay’s work evaluates place\, tradition\, storytelling\, and subject matter to develop imaginative dialogues and alternative strategies for self-imaging. Through installations\, paintings\, performance\, video\, and monumental sculptural figures\, she fabricates environments of ritual and memorial. By developing counter and re-imagined narratives that live within the duality of physical and spiritual worlds\, she explores the historical and contemporary social concerns of hybrid cultures\, through the gaze of the African-Ascendant female progenitor. Gay was one of ten selected artists for OFF THE WALL a city-wide Mural initiative led by the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee (2019). Gay was chosen by The Congressional Club Museum Foundation to be the illustrator for the First Lady’s Luncheon hostess gift for First Lady Michelle Obama (2013). Gay’s work includes features in film and television such as BET\, OWN\, Netflix and Lionsgate Films. She currently sits as a Do-Good Fellow awarded to individuals working towards a better South (2019-2020) and an Emory University Arts and Social Justice Fellow a program which explores racial injustice and other inequities\, leading to creative projects on campus and in the wider community (2020). \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nDr. Ayanna Abrams is a licensed clinical psychologist in Georgia and CEO/Founder of Ascension Behavioral Health. She obtained her master’s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology with emphasis on diverse populations and families. Dr. Abrams’ specialties include working with college aged populations and graduate/professional students\, adults and relationship/marital counseling. She has extensive clinical experience working with people of color\, specifically Black women\, Black men and Black couples. As a trained Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist (EFT)\, Dr. Abrams meets couples at the intersection of cultural identity and attachment styles in order to improve short-term and long-term emotional connection and relationship satisfaction.  \nDr. Abrams enjoys providing consultation and creating training/workshops for organizations\, schools\, churches\, hospitals\, & other media and has been featured in the New York Times\, Essence\, Allure and MindBodyGreen\, as well as AfroPunk\, Therapy for Black Girls and Silence the Shame. She is the co-founder of Not So Strong\, an initiative to improve the mental health and relationship functioning of Black women through use of vulnerable storytelling. \nNot So Strong is a black woman led movement that seeks to broaden the view of black women beyond the impenetrable\, strong black woman\, and seeks to empower women by finding strength through acknowledging and cultivating vulnerability. \n\n\n\n\nSee additional conversations and events taking place as part of the HANDS UP ATLANTA: Art & Activism series. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/racial-healing-through-art/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/handsup-preview_1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201029T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201029T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153344Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153344Z
UID:10000315-1603998000-1603998000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Standing Up for Racial Justice
DESCRIPTION:The culminating event of the Art and Activism series\, featuring Atlanta-based theatre arts organizations working on a range of racial justice and equity initiatives. Followed by a facilitated allyship discussion focused on navigating racism together. \nIntroduction by Susan V. Booth\, Alliance Theatre’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director \nFacilitated by Maya Lawrence\, Alliance Theatre’s Anti-Bias Program Director \nFeaturing:\nBLACT (Black Leaders Advocating Cultural Theatre)\nMarcus Hopkins-Turner\nBrittani Minnieweather\nCREAT (Coalition for Racial Equity in Atlanta Theatre)\nDiany Rodriguez\nJ.L. Reed\nAtlanta Theatre Artists for Justice\nJasmine Thomas\nGreg Hunter\nIDEA ATL (Inclusion\, Diversity\, and Equity in the Arts ATL)\nAmber Bradshaw\nMichelle Pokopac\nOut of Hand\nLee Osorio \nThursday\, October 29th at 7pm EST\nThis event will be closed-captioned. \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/standing-up-for-racial-justice/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/handsup-preview_3.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201220T235900
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201220T235900
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153332Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153332Z
UID:10000314-1608508740-1608508740@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Togetha: Broadway on Demand
DESCRIPTION:The Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble will perform Togetha as part of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence streaming for free on Broadway On Demand December 14-20\, 2020. \nAbout the Play:\nTogetha\nBy Azya Lyons\nDecember 14-20\, 2020 \nImani\, Aiyanna\, Chayenne\, and Aaliyah have just graduated high school and are celebrating at a party in their honor\, until an evening of entertainment takes a tragic turn. \nThe Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble will perform Togetha as part of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence streaming for free on Broadway On Demand December 14-20\, 2020. \n#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence is a theatre activism campaign launched by Michael Cotey in 2019. #ENOUGH strives to spark critical conversations and incite meaningful action in communities across the country on the issue of gun violence through the creation of new works of theatre by teens. # ENOUGH’s mission is to promote playwriting as a tool of self-expression and social change\, harnessing this generation’s spirit of activism and providing a platform for America’s playwrights of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today.  \nenoughplays.com \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/togetha-broadway-on-demand-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Offstage
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Lyons.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201214T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201214T000000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153332Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153332Z
UID:10000313-1607904000-1607904000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Togetha: Broadway on Demand
DESCRIPTION:The Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble will perform Togetha as part of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence streaming for free on Broadway On Demand December 14-20\, 2020. \nAbout the Play:\nTogetha\nBy Azya Lyons\nDecember 14-20\, 2020 \nImani\, Aiyanna\, Chayenne\, and Aaliyah have just graduated high school and are celebrating at a party in their honor\, until an evening of entertainment takes a tragic turn. \nThe Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble will perform Togetha as part of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence streaming for free on Broadway On Demand December 14-20\, 2020. \n#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence is a theatre activism campaign launched by Michael Cotey in 2019. #ENOUGH strives to spark critical conversations and incite meaningful action in communities across the country on the issue of gun violence through the creation of new works of theatre by teens. # ENOUGH’s mission is to promote playwriting as a tool of self-expression and social change\, harnessing this generation’s spirit of activism and providing a platform for America’s playwrights of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today.  \nenoughplays.com \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/togetha-broadway-on-demand/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Offstage
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Lyons.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20201211T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20201211T193000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153331Z
UID:10000312-1607715000-1607715000@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:PROM Watch Party
DESCRIPTION:THE PROM NETFLIX RELEASE\nJoin the @AllianceTheatre Twitter Watch Party on Friday\, December 11 at 7:30pm\nWith The Prom’s upcoming movie premiere on Netflix on December 11\, we decided to hold a virtual watch party where the musical’s journey began — @alliancetheatre! Turn on your Netflix and join us on Twitter at 7:30 P.M. EST (with a special pre-show at 7:10) and live-tweet using the hashtag #ATPromParty. \nRSVP \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/prom-watch-party/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/TP-05820RC20201030-6708-7c2m9b-1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210118T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210118T143000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153331Z
UID:10000311-1610980200-1610980200@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Dear Dr. King: Uncertainty in the Air
DESCRIPTION:Join nine emerging artists as they reimagine the summer 2020 Palefsky Collision Project in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and all civil rights activists.  Directed by Patrick McColery in collaboration with Pearl Cleage\, Playwright\, this special Performance & Talk Back will occur virtually on Monday\, January 18\, 2021 at 2:30 PM EST.  \nAlliance Theatre Palefsky Collision Project Public Performances\n\nWHEN & WHERE:\n\nMonday\, January 18 at 2:30 p.m. – A Virtual Performance\n\n\n\nPerformance – approximately 45 minutes\nTalk Back – approximately 30 minutes \nWe will send you a Zoom link closer to the date of the event. \nRegister for Free \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/dear-dr-king-uncertainty-in-the-air/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/PALCO_7.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210219T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210219T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153330Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153330Z
UID:10000310-1613761200-1613761200@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Teen Ensemble: Live\, From the Center of the Earth: Stories of STANKONIA
DESCRIPTION:2020/21 Teen Ensemble \nUpcoming Performance: Live\, From the Center of the Earth: Stories of STANKONIA\nThis winter for the Teen Ensemble’s playwriting intensive\, the teens will be creating original work inspired by Outkast’s seminal 2000 album Stankonia. Each Teen will pick a track of their choice from the record and write a brand-new short play drawn from any number of details in the song—the sonic textures\, sociopolitical themes\, narrative details\, or something else entirely. As a culmination of their work\, the Ensemble will virtually perform all of their plays in one collective evening titled LIVE\, FROM THE CENTER OF THE EARTH: STORIES OF STANKONIA. Registration is FREE.  \nFeb. 19 at 7 PM ET\nZoom webinar \nRegister
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/teen-ensemble-live-from-the-center-of-the-earth-stories-of-stankonia/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Offstage
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/145887625_10164651082100183_4528807003490699294_o.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210520T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210520T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153327Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251015T202053Z
UID:10000309-1621537200-1621537200@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:DATA Afterwords
DESCRIPTION:DATA AFTERWORDS events\nMay 6\nJoin us for a talkback following the 7:00pm performance with the cast of DATA and playwright Matthew Libby. Q&A to follow.  \nAttend this performance \nMay 13\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Nassim Pravin\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Parvin will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing political and ethical concerns in the field of technology and design: How are algorithms shaping social and collective interactions? What kind of bias does data reproduce and how can we imagine a more just technological future? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nNassim Parvin is an Associate Professor at the School of Literature\, Media\, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Dr. Parvin’s interdisciplinary scholarship has appeared in design\, computing\, and STS venues; and her designs have received multiple awards and been exhibited in venues such as the Smithsonian Museum. She is on the editorial board of Design Issues and serves as a Lead Editorial Team member of Catalyst: Feminism\, Theory\, Technoscience. \nAttend this performance \nMay 14\nJoin us for a conversation following the 7:30pm performance between DATA playwright Matthew Libby\, and the Director and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. Q&A to follow. \nAttend this performance \nMay 20\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Paul Root Wolpe\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. Dr. Wolpe will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing concerns in the field of ethics and technology: How are predictive algorithms driving government and policy decisions such as policing and immigration? What kinds of bias is baked into data sets and how can we re-imagine a more just future with technology and AI? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nPaul Root Wolpe\, Ph.D. is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair of Jewish Bioethics\, Professor of Medicine\, Pediatrics\, Psychiatry\, and Sociology\, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience. For 15 years he served as the Senior Bioethicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Dr. Wolpe is the winner of the 2011 World Technology Network Award in Ethics and was named one of Trust Across America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior.  \nAttend this performance \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/data-afterwords-4/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/data-preview_1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210514T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210514T193000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153327Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251015T202053Z
UID:10000308-1621020600-1621020600@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:DATA Afterwords
DESCRIPTION:DATA AFTERWORDS events\nMay 6\nJoin us for a talkback following the 7:00pm performance with the cast of DATA and playwright Matthew Libby. Q&A to follow.  \nAttend this performance \nMay 13\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Nassim Pravin\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Parvin will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing political and ethical concerns in the field of technology and design: How are algorithms shaping social and collective interactions? What kind of bias does data reproduce and how can we imagine a more just technological future? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nNassim Parvin is an Associate Professor at the School of Literature\, Media\, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Dr. Parvin’s interdisciplinary scholarship has appeared in design\, computing\, and STS venues; and her designs have received multiple awards and been exhibited in venues such as the Smithsonian Museum. She is on the editorial board of Design Issues and serves as a Lead Editorial Team member of Catalyst: Feminism\, Theory\, Technoscience. \nAttend this performance \nMay 14\nJoin us for a conversation following the 7:30pm performance between DATA playwright Matthew Libby\, and the Director and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. Q&A to follow. \nAttend this performance \nMay 20\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Paul Root Wolpe\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. Dr. Wolpe will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing concerns in the field of ethics and technology: How are predictive algorithms driving government and policy decisions such as policing and immigration? What kinds of bias is baked into data sets and how can we re-imagine a more just future with technology and AI? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nPaul Root Wolpe\, Ph.D. is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair of Jewish Bioethics\, Professor of Medicine\, Pediatrics\, Psychiatry\, and Sociology\, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience. For 15 years he served as the Senior Bioethicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Dr. Wolpe is the winner of the 2011 World Technology Network Award in Ethics and was named one of Trust Across America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior.  \nAttend this performance \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/data-afterwords-3/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/data-preview_1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210513T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210513T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251015T202053Z
UID:10000307-1620932400-1620932400@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:DATA Afterwords
DESCRIPTION:DATA AFTERWORDS events\nMay 6\nJoin us for a talkback following the 7:00pm performance with the cast of DATA and playwright Matthew Libby. Q&A to follow.  \nAttend this performance \nMay 13\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Nassim Pravin\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Parvin will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing political and ethical concerns in the field of technology and design: How are algorithms shaping social and collective interactions? What kind of bias does data reproduce and how can we imagine a more just technological future? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nNassim Parvin is an Associate Professor at the School of Literature\, Media\, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Dr. Parvin’s interdisciplinary scholarship has appeared in design\, computing\, and STS venues; and her designs have received multiple awards and been exhibited in venues such as the Smithsonian Museum. She is on the editorial board of Design Issues and serves as a Lead Editorial Team member of Catalyst: Feminism\, Theory\, Technoscience. \nAttend this performance \nMay 14\nJoin us for a conversation following the 7:30pm performance between DATA playwright Matthew Libby\, and the Director and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. Q&A to follow. \nAttend this performance \nMay 20\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Paul Root Wolpe\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. Dr. Wolpe will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing concerns in the field of ethics and technology: How are predictive algorithms driving government and policy decisions such as policing and immigration? What kinds of bias is baked into data sets and how can we re-imagine a more just future with technology and AI? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nPaul Root Wolpe\, Ph.D. is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair of Jewish Bioethics\, Professor of Medicine\, Pediatrics\, Psychiatry\, and Sociology\, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience. For 15 years he served as the Senior Bioethicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Dr. Wolpe is the winner of the 2011 World Technology Network Award in Ethics and was named one of Trust Across America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior.  \nAttend this performance \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/data-afterwords-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/data-preview_1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210506T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210506T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251015T202053Z
UID:10000306-1620327600-1620327600@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:DATA Afterwords
DESCRIPTION:DATA AFTERWORDS events\nMay 6\nJoin us for a talkback following the 7:00pm performance with the cast of DATA and playwright Matthew Libby. Q&A to follow.  \nAttend this performance \nMay 13\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Nassim Pravin\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Parvin will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing political and ethical concerns in the field of technology and design: How are algorithms shaping social and collective interactions? What kind of bias does data reproduce and how can we imagine a more just technological future? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nNassim Parvin is an Associate Professor at the School of Literature\, Media\, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Dr. Parvin’s interdisciplinary scholarship has appeared in design\, computing\, and STS venues; and her designs have received multiple awards and been exhibited in venues such as the Smithsonian Museum. She is on the editorial board of Design Issues and serves as a Lead Editorial Team member of Catalyst: Feminism\, Theory\, Technoscience. \nAttend this performance \nMay 14\nJoin us for a conversation following the 7:30pm performance between DATA playwright Matthew Libby\, and the Director and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. Q&A to follow. \nAttend this performance \nMay 20\nJoin us for a special discussion following the 7:00pm performance of DATA with Professor Paul Root Wolpe\, a nationally recognized data ethicist and Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. Dr. Wolpe will unpack the themes in the play as they relate to pressing concerns in the field of ethics and technology: How are predictive algorithms driving government and policy decisions such as policing and immigration? What kinds of bias is baked into data sets and how can we re-imagine a more just future with technology and AI? This is an interactive audience discussion with a Q&A.   \nPaul Root Wolpe\, Ph.D. is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair of Jewish Bioethics\, Professor of Medicine\, Pediatrics\, Psychiatry\, and Sociology\, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience. For 15 years he served as the Senior Bioethicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Dr. Wolpe is the winner of the 2011 World Technology Network Award in Ethics and was named one of Trust Across America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior.  \nAttend this performance \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/data-afterwords/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/data-preview_1.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210816T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210816T190000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153311Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153311Z
UID:10000302-1629140400-1629140400@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:CLASSIC REMIX Watch Party
DESCRIPTION:You’re invited to the #ClassicRemix watch party! \nJoin us Monday August 16th as we stream an original Classic Remix project by our Teen Ensemble\, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. \nIn a world where books and literature are forbidden and burned\, a young fireman\, Jason Carter\, meets an unusual teenage girl who dares to question the status quo. Encouraged by her passionate appeal\, From the Ashes follows Carter as he searches for answers and finds the courage to stand up for the most unthinkable act–reading a book. In a nod to Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451\, Carter must ask himself: How much is he willing to lose to gain his freedom? \nTo celebrate its release and the culmination of our digital season\, we’re throwing a party — @alliancetheatre! Join us on Alliance Theatre Anywhere and on Twitter starting at 7pm Monday\, August 16th. Tweet along with us using the hashtag #ClassicRemix. \nIf you’re not available for the watch party\, you can watch From the Ashes anytime starting on Monday on Alliance Theatre Anywhere. \nGet a Reminder \nJoin us on Twitter \n 
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/classic-remix-watch-party/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/classicremix_0.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20211003T235900
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20211003T235900
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153308Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153308Z
UID:10000298-1633305540-1633305540@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Buy a DARLIN' CORY T-Shirt
DESCRIPTION:            \nContinue to be haunted by Darlin’ Cory with the Alliance Theatre’s official t-shirt\, available for purchase now and delivered straight to your home.\nThe full-color image is printed on 52% combed and ring-spun cotton/48% polyester unisex t-shirts in sizes XS-4XL. \nIn an effort to reduce waste\, our t-shirts are printed on demand\, which means that we don’t keep an inventory at the theater. After your purchase\, you will receive email communication from our t-shirt vendor keeping you up to date on the status of your order. Typically t-shirt orders are delivered within 7–10 days from your order by our t-shirt vendor\, Printful. \nBUY NOW » \n  \nSize Chart:
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/buy-a-darlin-cory-t-shirt-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/DC-tshirt.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210916T105000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210916T105000
DTSTAMP:20260406T102139
CREATED:20250808T153307Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250808T153307Z
UID:10000297-1631789400-1631789400@www.alliancetheatre.org
SUMMARY:Buy a DARLIN' CORY T-Shirt
DESCRIPTION:            \nContinue to be haunted by Darlin’ Cory with the Alliance Theatre’s official t-shirt\, available for purchase now and delivered straight to your home.\nThe full-color image is printed on 52% combed and ring-spun cotton/48% polyester unisex t-shirts in sizes XS-4XL. \nIn an effort to reduce waste\, our t-shirts are printed on demand\, which means that we don’t keep an inventory at the theater. After your purchase\, you will receive email communication from our t-shirt vendor keeping you up to date on the status of your order. Typically t-shirt orders are delivered within 7–10 days from your order by our t-shirt vendor\, Printful. \nBUY NOW » \n  \nSize Chart:
URL:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/event/buy-a-darlin-cory-t-shirt/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Special Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.alliancetheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/DC-tshirt.webp
ORGANIZER;CN="Alliance Theatre":MAILTO:allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR