Jake Berne (Jonah) is an Atlanta native and is over the moon to make his Alliance debut. He is thrilled to continue his journey with Data after being a part of the workshop at The Kennedy Center in 2020. Select regional credits: Skintight (Actor’s Express), Refugee (Florida Repertory Theatre, World Premiere), and Romeo and Juliet (Florida Repertory Theatre). He is grateful to work with a cast and creative team he admires so much. Thanks to Susan, Matt, Jody, Jayson, Amanda, and everyone at the Alliance for this opportunity. With all his love to FWAJJ. @jakeberne 

Stephen Hu (Alex) is thrilled to be working with the Alliance Theatre. Mr. Hu was last seen on stage in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s The Great Wave. NYC credits: F.O.B. (Sheen Center) and Puzzle the Will (Davenport Theatre). Select regional credits: Vietgone (American Conservatory Theatre), Hamlet (Repertory Theater of St. Louis), Macbeth (Theatricum Botanicum), Ching Chong Chinaman (Artists at Play) and Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (The Old Globe). TV: New Amsterdam (NBC), The Good Fight (CBS). MFA, The Old Globe/USD. Thank you for supporting live theater. 

Clare Latham (Riley) is thrilled to be back making theatre, and an Alliance debut, since working on what would have been last season’s 53% Of. An Atlanta native, until recently based in London. Off West End Award-nominee for major UK revivals of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and Doubt, A Parable (Southwark Playhouse). Select UK/Int’l theatre: My Name Is Rachel Corrie (Lebanon Premiere, EU Theatre Festival, Beirut); UK Premieres of Blue Surge and Don’t Smoke In Bed (Finborough Theatre), and Tennessee Williams’ Green Eyes (Hotel Plays). Core Ensemble member of UK theatre company The Faction (Romeo & Juliet, The Talented Mr Ripley, Joan of Arc, Mörder, Strindberg’s Apartment). Made NY debut onstage in Off-Broadway run of Soho Rep’s Fairview at TFANA. TV: “Mr Robot,” “Suspicion”. Training: NYU-Tisch (BFA); Drama Centre London (MA). 

Cheech Manohar (Maneesh) was born in Wollongong, Australia and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He could most recently be seen as Kevin Gnapoor in the Original Broadway Company of Mean Girls, or as Sanjay in Mrs. Fletcher on HBO. Regional credits include: Mean Girls at the National Theatre, Mary Poppins (Robertson Ay) and New Kid (Nick) at Syracuse Stage. Syracuse Drama Alum. Thank you to Susan, Matthew, the whole team of Data and the Alliance Theatre, Ross Silver and A3 Artists Agency, and you, for supporting theatre. Much love to his family: the smartest, kindest people he knows. @cheechmanohar 

André C. Allen (Lighting Design) was born and raised in Queens, New York. He moved to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College in 1989. There he discovered the art of storytelling with light. He founded BlackLight Productions Inc. in 1990. He has designed for many artists and organizations including productions for the Freddie Hendricks’ Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, the Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Actor’s Express, India.Arie, and Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company. André has served as Production Manager with the Rialto Center for the Arts and Operations Manager with the Ferst Center at Georgia Tech. He is proud of his career that has brought his brand of design to various facilities and arenas nationwide especially his work as lighting director for the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. After a career that has spanned 30 years and thousands of events, André continues to share his gift. In 2017, he joined the faculty at the Spelman College Department of Theater and Performance to teach lighting design to the next generation of designers. www.BlackLightProductions.com “Gen. 1:3” 

Chris Lane (Sound Designer) is a Music Producer, Songwriter, DJ, Sound Designer and Audio Engineer for various productions across the nation. Some of his design work and original compositions include Ghost at Alliance Theatre, Four Women and Skeleton Crew at True Color's Theatre Company, Pipeline and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at Horizon Theatre, An Octoroon and The Brother's Size at Actor's Express, The 39 Steps and A Christmas Carol at Theatre Buford, Hands of Color at Synchronicity Theatre (GA), Skeleton Crew at Westport Country Playhouse (CT), Too Heavy for Your Pocket at George Street Playhouse (NJ), Four Little Girls and Ruby at Alabama Shakespeare Festival (AL), The Royale and The Children at The Kitchen Theatre Company (NY), Detroit 67’ at Virginia Stage Company (VA), and Incendiary at The Kennedy Center (DC) to name a few. He is also a proud Teaching Artist with Alliance Theatre, Co-Founder at Run Arts LLC, and professional graphic designer with a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. He is a co-founder and current president at Multiband Studios. Check out the amazing production team at www.multibandstudios.com 

Matthew Libby (Playwright) is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, by way of Los Angeles. DATA, winner of the Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, is his professional playwriting debut. A Princess Grace Award finalist, two-time O’Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalist, and Blue Ink Playwriting Award featured finalist, Matt's work has been developed and performed by theatres all over the country, including The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Theater Masters, The Barrow Group, The Road Theater Company, WNYU’s Theatre-in-the-Sound, and others. With Stanford Repertory Theater, he helped devise and acted in THE MANY FACES OF FARCE, which was nominated for a 2018 Bay Area Critics Award for Best Production. As a screenwriter, his work has been recognized by The Black List and Script Pipeline, and he is currently developing a historical miniseries with eOne/Brillstein. Matt studied cognitive science and creative writing at Stanford University before receiving his MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was awarded the Chair’s Award for Distinguished Achievement. 

Leslie Taylor (Costume Designer) has designed sets and costumes for over 170 productions. Most recently she designed sets and costumes for Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s premier of BUZZ. Last year, she designed the scenery for Actor’s Express production of An Octoroon and costumes for Theater Emory’s production of The Moors. She has designed multiple times for Actor’s Express, Alliance Theatre, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, the Center for Puppetry Arts, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, and Theatrical Outfit. Her work has been seen at Opera Theater St. Louis; GEVA Theater in Rochester, NY; Merrimack Theater, MA; Portland Stage Company, ME; Indiana Repertory Theater; and Off-Broadway. A full professor and resident set and costume designer at Emory University, Leslie also serves as the executive director for the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts.

Jayson T. Waddell (Assistant Director) is proud to return to the Alliance Theatre for his eleventh season. At the Alliance, he’s worked on such productions as Becoming Nancy, Courtenay's Cabaret, Approval Junkie, Ever After, Nick's Flamingo Grill, Candide, Crossing Delancey, Troubadour, Moby Dick, Born for This, Tuck Everlasting, The Geller Girls, A Christmas Carol, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, Broke, Sex and the Second City, Next to Normal, Holidays With the Chalks, and Bike America. At Atlanta Lyric Theatre: Oliver, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Full Monty, and Young Frankeinstein. At the Illinois Shakespeare Festival: Shakespeare in Love, I <3 Juliet, Hamlet, Q Gents, Antony & Cleopatra, Macbeth, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and A Winter’s Tale. Jayson graduated from the Gainesville Theatre Alliance and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Amanda Watkins (Line Producer) serves as an associate producer at the Alliance Theatre. Prior to this position, she was the general manager of Broadway Dreams, a nonprofit devoted to the mentoring and training of young adults in the theatre arts. Amanda served as EVP of Production and Development at The Araca Group in NYC where she shepherded the development of dozens of new plays and musicals. She was the executive producer on Broadway’s Tony Award-nominated Disgraced, the winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Ayad Akhtar as well as the 2010 Tony Award-nominated revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, directed by Stanley Tucci. Amanda was an actor on Broadway and throughout the regions for 15 years. She is a member of The Broadway League and in 2004, she was recognized by the State of Georgia House of Representatives with a certificate of excellence in theatre. She holds a B.F.A. from FSU and an M.A. from NYU.  

Susan V. Booth (Jennings Hertz Artistic Director) joined the Alliance Theatre in 2001 and has initiated the Palefsky Collision Project for teens, the Alliance/ Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab and commercial partnerships on such projects as The Prom; Tuck Everlasting; Ghost Brothers of Darkland County; The Color Purple; Bring It On: The Musical; Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away; Sister Act: The Musical; Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk; and Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL. She has directed nationally at the Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Northlight Theatre, Victory Gardens, Court Theatre and many others. She holds degrees from Denison and Northwestern universities and was a fellow of the National Critics Institute and the Kemper Foundation. She has held teaching positions at Northwestern, DePaul and Emory universities and is a past President of the board of directors for the Theatre Communications Group, the national service organization for the field. Booth’s leadership is underwritten by the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle, an initiative to support and promote women’s theater leadership funded by The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation. She is married to Max Leventhal and is the proud mother of Moira Rose Leventhal.