The selected plays are finalists from the 2008 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, which awarded Julia Brownell's Smart Cookie the top prize. Alliance will stage Smart Cookie beginning Jan. 30 on the Hertz Stage.
The Kendeda Graduate Playwrighting Competition finalists follow:
Rachel May will direct Alex Lewin's Near East on Feb. 2 at 2 PM. "An American archaeologist teams up with an Arab activist to unearth the 'Mother of Books,' the oldest scripture, from its resting place in the desert between Mecca and Medina. But their controversial mission affects a number of other characters, including a secretly gay Arab radical, a British spy and the ghost of a precocious 13-year-old boy."
Sarah Gubbins' Fair Use, under the direction of Freddie Ashley, will be presented Feb. 2 at 7:30 PM. "Sy and her law partner Chris have worked on some tough cases but have always worked out their competition over drinks and commiserating about dating – since his perfect woman is nothing like her perfect woman. All that changes when a client accused of plagiarism causes them to call on a hot-to-trot legal eagle. They discover that claims of intellectual property and claims of the heart are difficult to defend."
Randall Colburn's Lamp and Moth will be directed by Richard Garner on Feb. 3 at 2 PM. "Sex, murder and revenge collide in a Detroit diner in the lives of a reputed night dweller, a born-again missionary and a peep show girl. In this Noirish world, these denizens of the dark all become entangled in a new arrival's search for love and need for revenge." And, Janice Akers will direct Sick by Zayd Dohrn on Feb. 3 at 7:30 PM. "In Sick, a college professor brings his star student home to meet his dysfunctional family – a home so obsessed with cleanliness that the real dirt must lurk around every corner and behind every sentence. Toying with our contemporary phobias, this quirky dark comedy plays upon our fears, both real and imagined."
The free Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition finalist readings will take place in the Memorial Arts Building on the 3rd floor in the Black Box Theatre. Reservations can be made by phoning (404) 733-5000 or by visiting www.alliancetheatre.org.
The Alliance Theatre is located within the Woodruff Arts Center, at the corner of Peachtree Street and 15th Street, in Atlanta, GA.
