A national theater in Atlanta, Georgia, the Alliance Theatre was founded in 1968 and has since become one of the most prominent arts venues in the Southeast. The theater has premiered more than 100 original productions, including the Tony Award-winning The Color Purple. Its plays and musicals are viewed by more than 165,000 people each year.
The Alliance Theatre is also highly committed to educating and providing opportunities to the next generation of actors, playwrights, and other creative types. A recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award for continued excellence in community engagement, theater programming, and education, the Alliance Theatre provides age-appropriate drama camps and in-school programs to more than 80,000 students each year.
Alliance Theatre Institute programs include residencies, which are in-depth learning experiences for students and professional learning opportunities for teachers and administrators. In a residency, an Alliance Theatre Institute program administrator and teaching artist work with classroom teachers and administrators to develop a co-teaching framework, set schedules, and discuss instruction for the 8–12-week session.
Classroom sessions involve in-person and real-time video conference instruction. At the end of these residencies, teachers can choose to have their students share their experiences with other classes or bring their class to an Alliance Theatre production.
The following is a brief look at seven Alliance Theatre residency programs.
1. smART stART (Grade 1)
An arts-based literacy program for first-grade students, smART stART involves eight classroom sessions in which students learn how to identify narrative elements through dance, theater, or music. An Alliance Theatre Institute teaching artist works with first-grade teachers to develop lesson plans, assessments, and learning extensions. The program is backed by research that indicates students achieve greater literacy gains in arts-integrated classrooms. It also meets Georgia Standards of Excellence and Georgia Fine Arts Standards.
2. Historical Figures Come to Life (Grades 1-8)
In this 10-classroom session program for first through eighth grade, students are tasked with bringing a historical figure of their choice to life through research and performance. After researching their figure, students prepare a first-person monologue and perform it in front of their peers. They must also design an appropriate costume and mimic the voice and movement of their character. In addition to assisting students with the project, teachers bring their own historical figure to life to inspire others.
3. Digital Storytelling (Grades 6-12)
Digital Storytelling is a hands-on residency program that allows students in grades six through 12 the opportunity to tell creative and engaging stories while incorporating a range of digital elements, including images, voice-over audio, text, music, and interactive illustrations. Students use various technologies to create a 3–5-minute story, and at the end of the residency they can share stories with their peers. The goal of the program is to create stronger and more welcoming classrooms where students can value and understand the perspectives and experiences of others.
4. Collision Plus (Grades 6-12)
The Alliance Theatre’s Middle School and High School Collision Plus residency prompts students to create their own piece of theater that shares themes with an original anchor text. Students can select source material that’s either from the Alliance Theatre production season or their school curriculum and develop their new material through research, drama strategies, and creative writing exercises.
The Collision Plus program was created based on the Alliance Theatre’s critically acclaimed Palefsky Collision Project, a three-week summer program that has empowered teenagers to explore and engage with theater and express themselves creatively for more than two decades.
5. Slam Poetry (Grades 6-12)
Slam poetry is a combination of traditional poetry and spoken-word performance. The poet reads their prose and typically incorporates performance elements while speaking to a specific rhythm. Spoken-word poems are usually focused on social issues or politics and make points that cause the audience to reflect and think about how they feel about the particular issue.
The Alliance Theatre’s Slam Poetry residency program pairs students with a professional poet who teaches them the proper creative writing processes and techniques. Teachers also create and perform their own slam poetry prose.
6. Musical Theater Composition (Grades 6-12)
Designed for students in grades six through 12, the Musical Theater Composition residency teaches students how to create original songs for musicals with the help of a professional composer and Alliance Theatre Institute teaching artist. Students explore all aspects of the songwriting process, including concept, lyrics, and production. At the end of eight classroom sessions, students rehearse their work and perform it in front of their peers.
7. Playwriting (Grades 9-12)
Available only for students in grades nine through 12, the Playwriting residency partners teachers and students with a professional playwright. The playwright helps students learn how to transform their ideas into plays through creative writing tasks and critical feedback while teaching them how to write engaging dialogue and create compelling plots and complex characters. The residency supports the theater component of the Georgia Department of Education’s Dramatic Writing course.