Winner of the Kendeda Playwriting Competition Opens at the Alliance Theatre Jan. 31

ATLANTA’S ALLIANCE THEATRE PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE OF

FURLOUGH’S PARADISE

BY A.K. PAYNE AND DIRECTED BY TINASHE KAJESE-BOLDEN
JANUARY 31 – MARCH 3, 2024

 

FURLOUGH’S PARADISE MARKS THE 20^TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALLIANCE’S INFLUENTIAL ALLIANCE/KENDEDA NATIONAL GRADUATE PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

 

ALLIANCE WILL ALSO PRESENT THE FOUR FINALISTS OF THE ALLIANCE/KENDEDA NATIONAL GRADUATE PLAYWRITING COMPETITION IN FREE, STAGED READINGS DURING THE THEATER’S ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS, FEB 5 – 9, 2024

 

ATLANTA, GA (January 3, 2024) — The Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition continues to spotlight the best emerging playwrights with a full production for the competition winner and staged readings for four competition finalists.  The 20^th competition winner FURLOUGH’S PARADISE is written by a.k. payne, a graduate of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, with Direction by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, Alliance’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director. FURLOUGH’S PARADISE will have its world premiere on the Hertz Stage at Alliance Theatre Jan 31 – Mar 3, 2024.  Opening night is Wednesday, February 7, 7:30 p.m.

 

FURLOUGH’S PARADISE follows Cousins Sade and Mina, raised like sisters but now leading very different lives, as they return to their childhood town for a funeral. While Sade is on a three-day furlough from prison and Mina experiences a brief reprieve from her career and life on the West Coast, the two try to make sense of grief, home, love, and kinship. But traumas and resentments from the past, both real and surreal, threaten to pull them apart, all as time ticks towards the correctional officer’s impending arrival.

 

“These characters are fighting for moments,” said Playwright a.k. payne. “Because it’s been taken from them, they are fighting for moments to be in the same room together. A lot of the play is about being present and how we witness each other. How do we share space together. And so, my hope, for audiences, is the same – that they are invited into a chance to share; to share breath and to share air with people, I think that is really special.”

 

The cast of FURLOUGH’S PARADISE includes Asha Duniani (Synchronicity Theatre: Eclipsed; Tyler Perry Studios: Meet the Browns) as Mina; and Kai Heath (Baltimore Center Stage: Hall in Men on Boats; Kennedy Center: The Play that Goes Wrong) as Sade.  Understudies include Cymiah Alexander and Makallen Kelley.

 

The creative team of FURLOUGH’S PARADISE is led by Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (Alliance: Toni Stone and The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd) and includes Chika Shimizu (Scenic Design), Shilla Benning (Costume Design), Thom Weaver (Lighting Design), Milton Cordero (Projection Design), Christopher Lane (Sound Design), Julie B. Johnson, PhD (Movement Integration), Laura Morse (Mental Health Consultant), and Ashey Thomas (Dramaturg).  Additional production support is provided by Kaylee Mesa (Stage Manager), Samantha Honeycutt (Stage Management Production Assistant), Amanda Watkins (Line Producer), Jayla Dyas (Associate Line Producer), and Lawrence Bennett (Production Management Lead