Alliance Theatre Names New Artistic Directors

Tinashe Kajese-Bolden And Christopher Moses, Currently The Alliance’s Associate Artistic Directors And Interim Artistic Directors, Will Lead The Organization

Kajese-Bolden’s Appointment Follows Four Years As The Alliance’s Bold Associate Artistic Director Overseeing New Works And Mentorship Programs, And A Career As An Actor And Director That Spans Twenty Years

 

Moses Has Served The Alliance For Nine Years As The Dan Reardon Director Of Education & Associate Artistic Director, Leading & Developing Programming For Youth And Families, As Well As The Theatre’s Training Programs

 

This Decision Underscores The Alliance’s Ongoing Commitment To Producing New Works For All Audiences

After a national search, the Alliance Theatre Board of Directors has named Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses as Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors.  The appointment follows Kajese-Bolden's two decades-long career as a director and actor and four-years-long role with the Alliance as the BOLD Associate Artistic Director and Moses's twenty-year long career with the Alliance, most recently as the Dan Reardon Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director.  The pair, both deeply rooted in Atlanta’s arts, cultural, and civic communities, have been serving as Interim Artistic Directors since Susan V. Booth’s departure to become the Artistic Director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in October 2022.  This appointment marks the first time in its 55-year history that the Alliance has appointed two Artistic Directors, a decision that will support the Theatre’s expected growth over the next five years and strengthens its role as a cultivator of new works for all audiences and leader in arts education.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors and in partnership with the leadership of The Woodruff Arts Center, we are delighted to announce the appointments of Tinashe and Chris, two nationally recognized artists and producers with long-standing connections in the Atlanta community and theater field, as the Alliance’s next artistic leaders,” said Jocelyn Hunter, Alliance Board Chair and Chair of the search committee.  “Three things make them the ideal candidates for this role.  First, each is extraordinarily talented. Second, they have had a remarkable impact on the Alliance during their period of interim leadership.  Third, their vision for the theater’s continued relevance and growth is ambitious and compelling.”

During their tenure as interim Artistic Directors, Kajese-Bolden and Moses embarked on a campaign to fund the building of a new performance space devoted to expanding the Alliance’s programming for youth audiences and programmed the Alliance’s 2023/24 season, which will include four world premieres, two recent Pulitzer Prize-winning works, and multiple partnerships.  They also, with the support of selection committees, chose the winning play and finalists of the 20^th Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition and the projects to be developed in the 9^th Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab.

Kajese-Bolden is an award-winning Director, Actor, and Producer. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Directing.  Recent directing credits include Toni Stone (co-production between Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Alliance Theatre), The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd and Nick’s Flamingo Grill (World Premieres at the Alliance Theatre), School Girls, Or the African Mean Girls Play (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre), Ghost (Alliance Theatre), Native Gardens (Virginia Stage Company), Pipeline (Horizon Theater), and Eclipsed (Synchronicity Theatre, Best Director Suzi Bass Award). She has also worked as a director and actor regionally and on and off Broadway.  As the BOLD Associate Artistic Director at Alliance Theatre, Kajese-Bolden stewarded the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, cultivating new works for Atlanta-based artists, and oversaw the Spelman Leadership Fellowship, the first mentorship program of its kind partnering a regional theatre with an historically Black college and university to offer paid career opportunities for students interested in arts leadership positions.

Moses has worked in professional theater for twenty years and was awarded the Governor’s Award for Arts and Humanities for his work in the field. After working at the Alliance for ten years, he became the Director of Education in 2011, overseeing the Alliance Theatre Institute (twice recognized as an Arts Model by the Federal Department of Education), Theatre for Youth and Families programming, and the Acting Program.  Under his leadership, the Alliance launched its Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young program, providing fully interactive professional theater experiences for children ages newborn through five; the Alliance Teen Ensemble, performing world premiere plays commissioned for and about teens; Palefsky Collision Project, where teens produce a new work after colliding with a classic text; and Alliance@work, a professional development program designed for the business sector. Moses also expanded the Alliance’s summer camp program to serve over 3,000 children in multiple locations across Atlanta. In 2014, Chris added the title Associate Artistic Director and has continued to expand the Alliance’s commissioned works for youth and family audiences.

“I am beyond thrilled and deeply honored to serve the Alliance staff and Atlanta community in the role of Artistic Director!" said Kajese-Bolden.  "Atlanta embraced my family 10 years ago and there is no other city more exciting and promising in which to live. I have a vision for theatre at the heart of public life for all. A vision where Atlanta is an artistic hub for the nation and the Alliance a symbol of what is possible when we prioritize the well-being of artists and staff. Chris Moses is a visionary leader fueled by a passion for access and a restless appetite for growth and adventure. Together, we are uniquely prepared to maximize the power of creative abrasion by opening the epicenter of decision making and inviting our comprehensive worldviews, with a heap of unbridled humor, to our programming and policy making.”

“I'm humbled and grateful beyond all imagination to serve this theatre that I love, in this city that I love, with the people that I love,” said Moses.  “The opportunity to build upon the momentous foundation set by Kenny Leon and Susan Booth and to realize our dream of making theatre a birthright for everyone in our community is tantalizing.  That I get to do this alongside my friend, colleague, fellow Atlantan and consummate artist, Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, makes the experience infinitely more rewarding, and the possibilities exponentially more profound.”

“Tinashe and Chris know Atlanta and the national theater scene, they are field-leading in new works, and they have the trust of our board and stakeholders of all ages,” said Mike Schleifer, Alliance Theatre Managing Director. “I’ve been thrilled over the last 8 months at how well the three of us worked together to program, schedule, and budget next season while joyfully executing this one. This team brings together their individual strengths, lived experiences, passions, and beliefs in the power of this artform to advance the Alliance’s mission of expanding hearts and minds, on stage and off.”

This appointment comes at a transition time for the Alliance and theaters across the country.  As the new leaders look for models of growth and sustainability, the Artistic Directors will focus on opportunities for artistic collaborations, as illustrated by the Alliance’s 2023/24 season co-productions with The Atlanta Opera and others; expanded programming and access for Youth and School Field Trip audiences, groups whose numbers have grown since the pandemic shutdowns; developing and supporting local Atlanta artists and the next generation of theater administrators; and developing impactful new works for all audiences. 

Inspired by our choice? Let us know by making a contribution to support our work or email us at allianceinfo@alliancetheatre.org.  We'd love to share your well wishes with our new directors.