A New Season: In Conversation with Chris Moses and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden

ALLIANCE THEATRE PODCAST: AN EXPLORATION OF THEATER AND THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

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Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses lead the charge of our artistic efforts here at the Alliance Theatre, as Co-Artistic Directors. Over the past few months these two have curated our recently announced, upcoming season. On this episode of the Alliance Theatre Podcast, we chat about how this season came to be, why these stories need to be told and what it means for Alliance Theatre audiences looking ahead.

Chris Moses, serves as the Dan Reardon Director of Education and Co-Associate Artistic Director, Alliance Theatre. Chris has been working in professional theatre education for over 15 years. In January of 2011, Chris took on the position of Director of Education at the Alliance Theatre, overseeing the Alliance Theatre Institute (twice recognized as an Arts Model by the Federal Department of Education), Theatre for Youth & Families, and the Acting Program. Since taking over this position, Chris has quadrupled the education budget and reach, making the Alliance Theatre Education department a vital resource for advancing the civic agenda of Atlanta. This work is accomplished through deep and sustained partnerships with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Atlanta Public School System, Fulton County Public System, the Anti-Defamation League, the YMCA, the City of Atlanta, the Alzheimer’s Foundation, Emory’s Center for Autism, the Children’s Restoration Network, the Latin American Association, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the High Museum of Art. Under his leadership, the Alliance launched its Theatre for the Very Young program, which provides fully interactive professional theatre experiences for children of all abilities from ages 18 months to 5 years old, the Alliance Teen Ensemble, which performs world premier plays commissioned for and about teens, and Alliance@work, a professional development program designed for the business sector—the latest offering of which uses theatre practice to create a culture of civility in the workplace. In 2014, Chris added the title Associate Artistic Director, and has continued to expand the Alliance’s education offerings. During his tenure in this position, the Alliance has produced over a dozen world premier plays for young audiences, including Pancakes, Pancakes by Ken Lin, The Dancing Granny by Jireh Breon Holder, andMax Makes a Million by Liz Diamond. Currently, the Alliance serves over 100,000 students pre-k – 12 each season, as well as over 2,000 adults through its extensive education offerings. Chris looks forward to leading this department and expanding their continued efforts to provide a national level of theatre and arts education to the Atlanta community.

Tinashe Kajese-Bolden is an award-winning director, actor, producer and Co-Associate Artistic Director at the Alliance Theatre. She is the BOLD Artistic Director Fellow at the Alliance Theater and driven to create stories that celebrate our differences while building community. Tinashe is a Princess Grace 2019 Award Winner for Directing, and Map Fund Award recipient to develop her devised new work ALL SMILES for Theater for the Very Young, centering the experience of children on the Autism Spectrum. Recent theatre directing productions include School Girls (Or the African Mean Girls Play) at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, Ghost at The Alliance Theater, Native Gardens (Virginia Stage Company), Pipeline(Horizon Theater), Nick’s Flamingo Grill (World Premiere at The Alliance Theatre, Hertz Stage), Eclipsed (Synchronicity Theatre, Best Director Suzi Bass Award). Upcoming projects: Lydia Diamond’s ‘Toni Stone’ at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and The Alliance Theatre, and Candrice Jone’s ‘Flex’ at Theatrical Outfit for their 2021-22 Season. As a director and actor, she has worked On + Off Broadway, including The Imperial Theatre, Primary Stages, 59E59 Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem; and regionally at Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth Theater Co, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Geva Theatre, CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, among others, as well as recurring roles on TV/Film (Suicide Squad, Marvel’s Hawkeye, CW’s Valor, Dynasty, HBO’s Henrietta Lacks and currently filming Season 2 of Ava Duverney’s Cherish the Day.) She proudly serves on the ARTS-ATL Artist Advisory Council “My mission is the pursuit of what connects our different communities and how we create art that serves that.”

Learn more about the 2023/24 Season.

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