Jeremy B. Cohen directs the world premiere of the play that took the top prize of the Alliance Theatre's 2008 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition. Performances began Jan. 30 and continue through Feb. 22 on the Hertz Stage. Lemenager (Chicago, Movin' Out) leads a cast that also features Atlanta veteran actors Rebecca Blumhagen, Courtenay Collins (Managing Maxine), Dori Garziano, Larry Larson (Managing Maxine, Gem of the Ocean) and Blake Lowell.

In Smart Cookie, press notes state, "socialite Cookie Walsh has the perfect life on Manhattan's Upper East Side —including a handsome and successful husband and a Park Avenue triplex. However, her world is split wide open when her son comes home from prep school with his Spanish exchange student girlfriend and a big announcement. Cookie, used to running the show, now faces a situation utterly out of her control."

The design team comprises Lee Savage (set design), Miranda Hoffman (costume design), Jaymi Lee Smith (lighting design) and Lindsay Jones (sound design/composer).

For tickets and more information phone (404) 733-5000 or visit 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.