The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, is a valuable community organization that has provided arts and culture education to local residents since 1968. Formerly known as the Atlanta Municipal Theater, the organization launched in 1968 and performed its inaugural production, King Arthur, on October 29 of that year. The Alliance Theatre has since shown classic and original productions, including Cinderella, Don Quixote, and So Long on Lonely Street, the latter of which was the first Alliance Theatre production to be shown on Broadway.
Alliance Theatre’s 2022-23 season features productions like Roob and Noob and Do You Love the Dark? Below is a look at five other scheduled shows for the fall/winter season.
A Christmas Carol
A quintessential holiday production for all theater venues, A Christmas Carol tells the story of curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge, who famously hates Christmas, and shows his redemption through a series of visits with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Charles Dickens wrote the original story, published in 1843, while Alliance’s stage version was adapted by David H. Bell and will be directed by Leora Morris. It will be shown at Alliance Theatre’s brand new Coca-Cola Stage from November 12 to December 24.
The show will feature a reimagined set design and new costumes as audiences are taken back to the streets of 19th century London. The show will also include live music and a talented cast. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes the show as “high art of the season … a nostalgic feast for the eyes.”
Knock Knock
Since it first began offering acting classes and programs for children in 1979, the Alliance Theatre has organized several educational initiatives and put on many plays specifically for youth. Its Palefsky Collision Project, for instance, is a three-week summer program that empowers teenagers to work together to create a show based on source material under the direction of a professional director and playwright. The organization also often hosts shows for younger children, like Knock Knock, which is part of the Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young Series (recommended for children between the ages of 0-5).
“Welcome to The Apartment Building. Below us, above us, and beside us, the residents are preparing for the holidays and trying to stay warm,” it says in the show’s description. “Join us on a floor to floor adventure, meeting and celebrating with a variety of friends who all call The Apartment Building home. Surprises hide behind each door – all you need to do is (Knock, Knock).”
Created and directed by Olivia Aston Bosworth and Samantha Provenzano, the show will take place at the Selig Family Black Box Theatre from November 30 to December 23.
All Smiles
Another show for young children as part of the Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young Series, All Smiles will be shown at the Selig Family Black Box Theatre from January 26 to March 5, 2023. Created by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden in partnership with the Marcus Austin Center, the show highlights the different types of smiles and the way in which children share and process emotions.
The Hot Wing King
An original play that debuted at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre in New York in 2020, The Hot Wing King is a family comedy centered around the annual “Hot Wang Festival” in Memphis, Tennessee. Protagonist Cordell Crutchfield, along with his beau Dwayne and their group of wing-enthusiast friends (“The New Wing Order”), believes he’s a strong contender to win the hot wing culinary competition, but is faced with the unexpected challenge of looking after his troubled nephew.
Created by playwright Katori Hall, The Hot Wing King received the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and The Edgerton Foundation Award for New Plays. It has received positive reviews from New York Stage Review, Talkin’ Broadway, and The New York Times, the latter of which noted “an aura of good fellowship floods the stage.”
For the first time, Hall is directing the show, which will be shown on the Coca-Cola Stage from February 10 to March 5, 2023.
The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd
Created by Stephen Brown and directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, who developed the All Smiles children’s show, The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd tells the story of a 12-year-old computer genius who puts her skills to the test to attempt time travel. Starr-Kidd uses time travel in hopes of getting her parents back together after several unsuccessful attempts of trying to convince them with data.
The play, which won the 2022/23 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, is ultimately about fate and second chances. It will be shown at the Hertz Stage, a 200-seat Black Box theater that can accommodate various stage layouts, from March 1 to March 26, 2023.