The Alliance Theatre is known for its national role in cultivating new voices through the Kendeda Graduate Playwright Competition, creating significant new theatrical works and launching productions to Broadway. Most recently, the Alliance launched Twyla Tharp's Tony-nominated Come Fly Away. Sister Act: The Musical played on London's West End in 2009. The Alliance also launched Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Elton John's and Tim Rice’s Aida. And, in a rare event for a regional theatre, the Alliance originated the national tours of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk.
Over the years, the Alliance has produced more than 40 World Premieres. Many of these projects have gone on to further productions in New York or our peer regional theatres, including Atlanta writer Janece Shaffer's Managing Maxine; Quiara Hudes's 26 Miles; Tarell McCraney's In the Red and Brown Water (part of the Brother/Sister plays); the adaptation of Carson McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter; Atlanta writer Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky; and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo.
The Alliance Theatre has institutionalized its commitment to:
- Develop and produce powerful new plays
- Foster new playwrights
- Strengthen the national theatre field by supporting the work of emerging writers
- Establish Atlanta and its local theatres as key venues for launching original and compelling plays
- Introduce Atlanta audiences to the country’s brightest playwrights
