Speakeysie News Desk

THE 23RD WINNING PLAY, THE RED MAN BY JUCOBY JOHNSON, WILL HAVE ITS WORLD PREMIERE AS PART OF THE ALLIANCE’S 2027/28 SEASON, AND FOUR FINALISTS WILL BE PRESENTED AS STAGED READINGS DURING THE THEATER’S ALLIANCE/KENDEDA WEEK

THE COMPETITION’S CURRENT WINNER, FIRES, OHIO BY BETH HYLAND AND
DIRECTED BY MARISSA WOLF, BEGINS PERFORMANCES FEBRUARY 25, 2026;

FINALISTS WILL BE PRESENTED DURING THE 2026 ALLIANCE/KENDEDA WEEK, MARCH 17-20, 2026

ATLANTA, GA (February 20, 2026) — 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 winning play of the 23rd competition is The Red Man by JuCoby Johnson of The Juilliard School. Johnson is a New York-based playwright, actor, and screenwriter whose plays have been developed and produced by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Playwrights’ Center, and many others. Described as a Southern Gothic thriller and love story, THE RED MAN will be produced as part of the Alliance’s 2027/28 season. 

The four competition finalists, which will receive a developmental workshop and presentation as part of the 2027 Alliance/Kendeda Week, are:

• The Fifth of November by Nora Brigid Monahan, CUNY Hunter College
• 8½ Collisions by Danielle Keiko Eyer, New York University
• Vulturine by Matt Thekkethala, University of Texas at Austin
• Water Aerobics with Christopher, 8:30 amby Helen Gallagher, Brooklyn College

The Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition solicits plays from the leading MFA graduate programs in the United States and then conducts a rigorous selection process to find four finalists and one winning play.  The judges for the 23rd competition include playwright, theater director, and MacArthur “Genius” Luis Alfaro; award-winning playwright York Walker; and director and educator Nicole A. Watson.    

Past winners of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition have become some of today’s most exciting playwrights and writers including Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue inspired the 2017 Academy Award-winning film for Best Picture, Moonlight; a.k. payne, whose Alliance/Kendeda Competition-winning play Furlough’s Paradise was the winner of the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and received subsequent productions in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.; Mansa Ra, whose winning play Too Heavy For Your Pocket received multiple productions including an Off-Broadway production; and Marcus Gardley, who wrote the recent film adaptation of the musical, The Color Purple. 

Additional information regarding the production dates, creative team, and casting details for The Red Man will be announced in the coming months. Originally workshopped and developed in the 2025 Pacific Playwrights Festival as part of The Lab@South Coast Repertory, THE RED MAN was developed with the Ojai Playwrights Conference: Jeremy B. Cohen, Producing Artistic Director.

Headshots for the winner and finalists of the 23rd competition can be downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/i38f7rtqjni6a2ge4avtv/APkuCiYBbZsc3azAm5ZnSfo?rlkey=whaefsyoexnfwkg4wo4yg5ndg&st=cku5j7ys&dl=0

The winner of the 22nd annual competition, Fires, Ohio byBeth Hyland and directed by Marissa Wolf will run on the Hertz Stage at Alliance Theatre February 25 – March 22, 2026. Tickets are available at the Alliance Theatre Box Office by calling 404.733.4600. Tickets are available online at www.alliancetheatre.org/fires

The 2026 competition finalists will be heard in staged readings during Alliance/Kendeda Week, March 17 – 20, 2026.  The schedule for the finalist readings will be:

• Tuesday, March 17, 6:00 pm – The Words of Ants, by Xianoyan Kang, University of Iowa; directed by Avital Shira
• Wednesday, March 18, 6:00 pm – Mira & Dill, by Ally Merkel, New York University, directed by Caitlin Hargraves
• Thursday, March 19, 6:00 pm – Barren., by Alex Lin, The Juilliard School, directed by Candy McLellan
• Friday, March 20, 3:00 pm – Moe is a Dick, by Ida Cuttler, Yale School of Drama, directed by Alexis Kulani Woodard

All readings are free and open to the public.  Reservations for the readings are required and can be made online athttps://www.alliancetheatre.org/kendedaweek.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE THEATRE 

Founded in 1968, Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually.  The Alliance is led by Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses and Managing Director Brandon Kahn. The Alliance is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® for sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement.  In January 2019, the Alliance opened its state-of-the-art performance space, The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre.  In January 2026, the Alliance opened the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families on the campus of the Woodruff Arts Center to expand its programming and commitment to excellent productions for family and student audiences of all backgrounds.  Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 140 productions including eleven that have transferred to Broadway.  The Alliance education department reaches more than 90,000 students annually through performances, classes, camps, and in-school initiatives designed to support teachers and enhance student learning.  The Alliance Theatre values community, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence, and is dedicated to representing the cultural richness of Atlanta’s community with the stories we tell, the artists, staff, and leadership we employ, and the audiences we serve. www.alliancetheatre.org

OUR MISSION

Atlanta’s national theater, expanding hearts and minds on stage and off. 

OUR VISION

The Alliance Theatre will lead the national field by deeply engaging with its local community, modeling radical inclusion and catalytic experience on our stage, in our classrooms, and throughout Atlanta.