Alliance Theatre Receives Grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Each year, the ALLIANCE THEATRE Acting Program and Education Department reaches close to 50,000 students through performances, acting classes, drama camps, and in-school initiatives. The Alliance creates and produces plays for young audiences at every age level: from the Collision Project, where high school artists create and perform new work based on a classic text, to the ground breaking Theatre for the Very Young, creating interactive work for infants and toddlers. The Alliance also offers community education classes for all ages and abilities of theatre interest; and adult student productions of unproduced plays in development (working with local and national playwrights).

An active participant in Georgia classrooms, the Alliance has developed programs using theatrical techniques to aid in student learning through storytelling and problem solving. The ALLIANCE THEATRE Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists equips teachers with theatrical techniques that link directly to school curriculum, align with the Georgia Performance Standards, and increase student learning. Other programs include GA Wolf Trap, a nationally recognized professional learning program that focuses on literacy skills for children in Pre-K - 2nd Grade, and Dramaturgy K-12, a unique program that empowers students to create research material that both informs Alliance productions and prepares peer audiences. Twice recognized by the Federal Department of Education as leaders in the field of arts education, these programs reflect the Alliance's commitment to city wide arts access.

The Alliance continuously delivers the finest talent, art and educational opportunities for Atlanta audiences-proving once again that the Alliance is where great theatre lives. For more information, visit www.alliancetheatre.org or call 404.733.4650.

Pearl Cleage is an Atlanta based writer, currently in residence as Artist in Dialogue at The ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta where her new play, "What I Learned in Paris," will open the season in September, 2012. Her works include award winning plays, bestselling novels and numerous columns, articles and essays for a wide variety of publications including Essence, Ebony, Rap Pages, Vibe, The Atlanta Tribune, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Her first novel, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, was an Oprah Book Club pick and spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the author of thirteen plays, including Flyin' West, the most produced new American play in the country in 1994. Her Blues for An Alabama Sky was included in the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival in Atlanta. Her other plays include Chain; Late Bus to Mecca; Bourbon at the Border; A Song for Coretta and The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years. She is the author of eight novels, including Baby Brother's Blues, which was awarded an NAACP Image Award for Literature. She is also the co-author with her husband, writer Zaron W. Burnett, Jr., of We Speak Your Names, a praise poem commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for her 2005 Legends Weekend. Cleage and Burnett are frequent collaborators, including their award winning ten year performance series, "Live at Club Zebra!" featuring their work as writers and performance artists.

Cleage was chosen Cosby Chair in the Fine Arts by her alma mater, Spelman College, in 2005 and spent two years as a member of the Spelman faculty. Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by the college in 2010, Cleage remains active with the Women's Resource and Research Center and the Department of Theatre and Dance. She was the founding editor of CATALYST Magazine, an Atlanta-based literary magazine for ten years and served as Artistic Director of Just Us Theatre Company for five years. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. Her work has been given grant support through The National Endowment for the Arts, The Fulton County Arts Council, the Georgia Council for the Arts, The City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs, and the Coca-Cola Foundation. A regular columnist for The Atlanta Tribune for ten years, Cleage is a popular speaker on college campuses across the country. She also maintains a web site at www.pearlcleage.com and a Face Book Fan Page. Cleage and Burnett make their home in Atlanta.

Her plays have been produced at the following theatres (Partial listing):

ALLIANCE THEATRE, Atlanta, Georgia
Huntington Theatre, Boston, MA.
True Colors Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia
Intiman Theatre, Seattle, Washington
Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.
Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery, Alabama
Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena, CA.
Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson, Arizona
Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Berkeley, CA.
Penumbra Theatre Company, Minneapolis, MN.
Theatre in the Square, Marietta,GA.
Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT.
Detroit Repertory Theatre, Detroit, Michigan
Goodman Theatre Company, Chicago, Illinois
Negro Ensemble Company, New York City
New Federal Theatre, New York City
Women's Project & Productions, New York City
African Continuum Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.
African Grove Theatre Company, Atlanta, GA.
Bushfire Theatre Company, Philadelphia, PA.
Oregon Stage Company, Portland, Oregon
Unicorn Theatre, Kansas City, MO.
Everyman Theatre, Baltimore, MD.
St. Louis Black Repertory Company, St. Louis, MO.
Syracuse Stage, Syracuse, NY
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA.
Denver Theatre Company, Denver, CO.
Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin