The Alliance Theatre to Offer Free Readings of Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award Finalists, 2/1 & 2/2

The ALLIANCE THEATRE will present two days of readings from the finalists of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Awards. The readings, taking place February 1st and 2nd, will feature two plays a day and will be free to the public. The event will feature plays by Virginia Grise, Paul David Young, Emily Schwend, and Dana Lynn Formby.

February 1st will feature blu by Virginia Grise and directed by Susan Reid at 2:00pm and No One But You by Paul David Young and directed by Freddie Ashley at 7:30pm.

blu centers around Soledad, the ex-wife of a career gang member now in jail, who works two jobs to support her three children, only to face the death of her eldest son, an ex-gang member who, in an effort not to follow in his father's footsteps, joins the military and dies in Iraq. Through all the difficulties of poverty, gang violence, racism, and single motherhood, her partner Hailstorm helps Soledad face memory, history, Chicano culture and her environment.

No One But You looks at the primal forces of love and death power in this incredible love story. Mark and Jack meet at the height of the AIDS epidemic in New York. Both HIV-positive they move in together determined to support each other through the crisis. Mark succumbs to the disease and Jack struggles to create a normal life as a survivor of the AIDS epidemic. A moving and timely look at love and loss.

February 2nd will see Splinters by Emily Schwend and directed by Del Hamilton at 2:00pm and The Small of Her Back by Dana Lynn Formby and directed by Lisa Adler at 7:30pm.

Splinters is the story of a family torn apart after the loss of its youngest member, five-year-old Kaylee. A year after the disappearance, the lives of Milo, his wife Bennie and their seventeen-year-old daughter, Sam, have completely fractured, while all three family members are haunted by eerie and heartbreaking visits from the missing child. Only the emergence of the truth about Kaylee's disappearance can force each of them to confront their own actions, their grief, and each other.

The Small of Her Back sees Danielle Fitzman believing the glass ceiling has been shattered allowing her to climb her way up the corporate ladder of the NP Power company. When an opportunity opens on the board, Danielle must battle tit for tat-learning tit works more than tat. She finds defining the difference between sexual harassment and harmless flirting akin to drawing a line in sand during a windstorm. A hilarious and timely look at workplace sexual politics.

Also participating in the event is Ismail Khalidi, Kendeda Award Winner and author of Tennis in Nablus, currently playing at the ALLIANCE THEATRE.

The readings will take place in the Alliance 3rd Floor Black Box Theatre in the Memorial Arts Building. Seats are free, but may be reserved by calling the ALLIANCE THEATRE Box Office at 404-733-5000.

Now in its 41st season, Atlanta's nationally acclaimed ALLIANCE THEATRE, recipient of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award®, is the leading professional resident theatre of the Southeast, creating the powerful experience of shared theatre for diverse people on two stages for youth and adult audiences. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Susan V. Booth, the ALLIANCE THEATRE is a National Theatre with a local address, reaching out annually to almost 200,000 patrons and members of the community. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance launched three Tony Award-winning hits to Broadway: Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo. And, in a rare event for a regional theatre, it originated the national tour of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The theatre has premiered 60 works including adaptations of Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky.

Further evidence of the Alliance's commitment to new work is found in its nationally recognized Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, a cutting-edge program introducing student playwrights to professional networks while producing the world premiere of the winning student's work. The ALLIANCE THEATRE also offers extensive education and outreach programs such as the Institute for Educators and the Collision Project for high school students. The Alliance continuously brings Atlanta the finest talent and finest art-proving once again that the Alliance is where great theatre lives. 404.733.4650 or www.alliancetheatre.org.

The ALLIANCE THEATRE is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which also includes the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art, Young Audiences and the 14th Street Playhouse.

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