HANDS UP First Rehearsal

Take a sneak peek on the first day of rehearsals for Alliance's upcoming production of THE NEW BLACK FEST'S HANDS UP: 7 PLAYWRIGHTS, 7 TESTAMENTS.

Co-Directors, Keith Arthur Bolden, and Alexis Woodard. –Photo by Kathleen Covington. 

Research materials hung in the rehearsal hall. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Cast and crew on day one. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Co-Directors, Keith Arthur Bolden, and Alexis Woodard. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Script materials in the rehearsal hall. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Research materials hung in the rehearsal hall. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

HANDS UP stage model in the rehearsal hall. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Actors Marlon Andrew Burney and Josh Turner. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Actors Marlon Andrew Burney and Josh Turner. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Actor Marlon Andrew Burney during rehearsal. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Co-Directors, Keith Arthur Bolden and Alexis Woodard. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Cast and crew during first rehearsal. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Actor Jessenia Ingram during rehearsal. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

Artistic Director, Susan V. Booth on the first day of rehearsals for HANDS UP. –Photo by Kathleen Covington.

Actor Marcus Hopkins-Turner. –Photo by Kathleen Covington.

Actor Charence Higgins. –Photo by Kathleen Covington.

Actor Myles Wright. –Photo by Kathleen Covington.

Actors Jessenia Ingram and Brandon L. Smith. –Photo by Kathleen Covington.

Co-Director Alexis Woodard, and Movement Consultant, Morgan Hawkins. –Photo by Kathleen Covington.

Cast and crew share a treat on the first day of rehearsals for Alliance Theatre’s HANDS UP. –Photo by Aniska Tonge.

THE NEW BLACK FEST'S HANDS UP: 7 PLAYWRIGHTS, 7 TESTAMENTS
Directed by Keith Arthur Bolden and Alexis Woodard
Hertz Stage
October 8 - 31, 2021

Across seven monologues written by seven Black playwrights, HANDS UP depicts the realities of Black America from the perspective of varying genders, sexual orientations, skin tones, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The play was originally commissioned in 2015 by the New Black Fest in response to a police officer fatally shooting an unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. The themes and stories it tells still ring true today. HANDS UP is produced in association with Spelman College.

This collection includes:
Superiority Fantasy by Nathan James; Holes in My Identity by Nathan Yungerberg; They Shootin! Or I Ain’t Neva Scared… by Idris Goodwin; Dead of Night… The Execution of… by Nambi E. Kelley; Abortion by Nsangou Njikam; Walking Next to Michael Brown by Eric Holmes; and How I Feel by Dennis Allen II

For tickets & more info: alliancetheatre.org/handsup