Alex Edelman's JUST FOR US is Coming to Alliance Theatre in January

Following critically-acclaimed engagements on Broadway and around the globe, OBIE Award–winning writer and performer Alex Edelman will bring his award–winning solo show, JUST FOR US, to Alliance Theatre's Coca-Cola Stage for a limited engagement. Directed by Adam Brace, JUST FOR US will run Friday, January 5 through Sunday, January 7, 2024. 
 

Expertly crafted by one of comedy's most distinctive voices, this singular theatrical experience is an exploration of identity and our collective capacity for empathy—and it's also “belly-laugh funny!” (The New York Times). In the wake of a string of anti-Semitic rhetoric pointed in his direction online, standup comic Edelman decides to go straight to the source; specifically, Queens, where he covertly attends a meeting of White Nationalists and comes face-to-face with the people behind the keyboards. What happens next forms the backbone of the shockingly relevant, utterly hilarious, and only moderately perspirant stories that comprise JUST FOR US.

“Alex Edelman has done the impossible.  He took a harrowing personal story of hate and created one of the funniest shows of recent memory,” said Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses, Alliance Theatre's Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors. “Equal parts comedy and social critique, as comedic as it is courageous, JUST FOR US is a personal story that exposes the folly of hate and mines the depths of compassion.  At a time when antisemitism is tragically on the rise, Alex's voice is one we desperately need to hear.  We couldn't be prouder to share this story with the Atlanta community.”

JUST FOR US landed on Broadway following acclaimed international runs in London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Boston, and Washington D.C., as well as a six-time extended off-Broadway engagement across three venues in New York City. The show earned a “Critic's Pick” from The New York Times, a 2023 Obie Award, and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. The New Yorker raved that JUST FOR US is “Uproarious & tremendously entertaining!” The Washington Post proclaimed, “It's the summer of Alex! The superb JUST FOR US has been chiseled to diamond-cut perfection.” The New York Times described the show as a “cultural phenomenon,” and “a brisk, smart provocation of a monologue,” and Time Out hailed the show as, “A portrait of the entertainer as a young Jewish man in a polarized society…without pulling any punchlines. Despite the incendiary issues lurking at the edges of his tale, JUST FOR US is focused on comedy. The laughs are plentiful.” The Guardian deemed the show “Exquisitely crafted and deliciously funny,” and The Telegraph exalted that Edelman is, “one of the most distinctive comic voices of his generation. This is funny, often charmingly self-deprecating writing, delivered with infectious confidence and exuberance and building to a real cracker of a last line. Highly recommended.”

 

JUST FOR US was originally produced Off-Broadway by Mike Birbiglia in association with Mike Lavoie, Carlee Briglia, and Joseph Birbiglia.
 

Tickets are on sale to members now and will go on sale to non-members ($35 - $125) beginning Monday, December 4, at 10:00am.  Tickets are available at the Alliance Theatre Box Office by calling 404.733.4600.  Tickets are also available online at www.alliancetheatre.org.

VENUE INFORMATION:
 

The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre

Woodruff Arts Center, Memorial Arts Building

1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309

 

BIOS

 

Alex Edelman is a comedian, actor, and writer. He is known both for his solo shows - three, all award-winning, sell- out hits in London's West End and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - and for his TV writing. His first solo show, Millennial, won the 2014 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, the first American show to do so since 1997. Edelman has appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," "Late Night with Seth Meyers," and "Conan," and written on shows like “The Great Indoors” (CBS) and Jenji Kohan's “Teenage Bounty Hunters” for Netflix. He is the creator of Peer Group – a show about young people – on Radio 4 and his special “Live From The BBC” is available on Netflix internationally. At the start of the pandemic, he served as the head writer and executive producer of “Saturday Night Seder,” a star-studded 70-minute special, posted on YouTube, that has so far raised $3.5 million for the CDC Foundation (COVID-19) Emergency Response Fund. His comedy album "Until Now" was named one of the best comedy albums of 2020 by NPR's Bullseye. He has two differently sized feet.

 

Adam Brace (Director) was Associate Director at Soho Theatre, London where he worked across comedy, theatre, and performance art, and in roles spanning dramaturg, director, and writer. In comedy, he developed a varied range of work including eight Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated shows, two Herald Angel Award-winners, two nominees for the Melbourne Barry Award and two Southbank Sky Arts Awards. Directing credits include all of Alex Edelman's shows, most recently JUST FOR US (2023 Obie Award winner, 2022 Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Nominee); Leo Reich's Literally Who Cares?! Off-Broadway, Haley McGee's Age is a Feeling (Fringe First 2022, Soho Theatre); all of Sh!t Theatre's multi-award-winning international shows. Other credits include Ahir Shah's HBO Max special Dots and Creative Supervisor on two series of “Soho Theatre Live” on Amazon Prime. Previously, he was a playwright and was produced by Almeida Theatre, The National Theatre, and The Donmar Warehouse; his plays are published by Faber and Faber.

ABOUT Alliance Theatre

Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award for sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement and is led by Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses. In January 2019, the Alliance opened its new, state-of-the-art performance space, The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 120 productions including nine that have transferred to Broadway. The Alliance education department reaches 90,000 students annually through performances, classes, camps, and in-school initiatives designed to support teachers and enhance student learning. The Alliance Theatre values community, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence, and is dedicated to representing Atlanta's diverse community with the stories we tell, the artists, staff, and leadership we employ, and audiences we serve. www.alliancetheatre.org

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