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Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company

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Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company is a 501(c)3 non-profit theatre company in Atlanta, GA co-founded by Tony-winning Broadway director Kenny Leon and Jane Bishop in 2002. True Colors Theatre Company had their inaugural season in 2003-2004 under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Kenny Leon. True Colors Theatre Company produces world premiere plays by diverse playwrights as well as a commitment to preserving African-American classics. There is no permanent theater space for the company, they have dubbed themselves a "moveable feast", presenting plays at the Southwest Arts Center, Theatrical Outfits Balzer Theatre, Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center and the Rialto Center.

The educational component of True Colors Theatre Company is the August Wilson Monologue Competition, which was begun in 2007 by Kenny Leon and Todd Kreidler, dramaturg to the playwright August Wilson, after his death in 2005. In 2009 the program became a national program exposing high school students across the United States to the works of August Wilson as well as their teachers. This educational program began in Atlanta, GA and has now spread to a total of eight regions: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.[1] High school students compete in their region reciting monologues from works in August Wilson's Century Cycle. Finalists from each city advance to compete in New York City on the August Wilson Theatre stage.

In 2013, True Colors was awarded the American Theatre Wing's National Theatre Company Grant.[2]

In 2018, Jamil Jude was named artistic director of True Colors beginning in the 2019-20 season. His motto is "True Colors thrives at the intersection of artistic excellence and civic engagement".[3]

Works

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Season Production Playwright Run
2003-2004 Fences August Wilson October 2003
2003-2004 Steel Magnolias Robert Harling March 2004
2003-2004 Tambourines to Glory Langston Hughes July 2004,ATL;Sept 2004, DC
2004-2005 The Wiz William F. Brown December 2004
2004-2005 Brass Birds Don't Sing Samm-Art Williams January 2005
2004-2005 Flyin' West Pearl Cleage July 2004, ATL; Sept 2005, DC; Oct 2005, Tour
2005-2006 The Wiz William F. Brown December 2005
2005-2006 Rejoice! Cheryl L. West July 2006
2006-2007 The Wiz William F. Brown December 2006
2006-2007 Emergence-SEE! Daniel Beaty Jan & Jul 2007, ATL; Feb 2007, DC
2006-2007 Stick Fly Lydia R. Diamond May 2007
2006-2007 Ceremonies in Dark Old Men Lonne Elder III July 2007
2007-2008 The Wiz William F. Brown December 2007
2007-2008 Resurrection Daniel Beaty January 2008
2007-2008 The Amen Corner James Baldwin July 2008
2008-2009 Swimming Upstream Eve Ensler November 2008
2008-2009 Black Nativity Langston Hughes December 2008
2008-2009 Miss Evers' Boys David Feldshuh March 2009
2008-2009 Blues for an Alabama Sky Pearl Cleage May 2009
2008-2009 for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf Ntozake Shange July 2009
2009-2010 The Sty of the Blind Pig Philip Hayes Dean October 2009
2009-2010 Black Nativity Langston Hughes December 2009
2009-2010 Our Town Thornton Wilder February 2010
2009-2010 Jitney August Wilson May/June 2010
2010-2011 Gut Bucket Blues David H. Bell September 2010
2010-2011 Black Nativity Langston Hughes December 2010
2010-2011 Broke-ology Nathan Louis Jackson January 2011
2010-2011 The Colored Museum George C. Wolfe March 2011
2010-2011 Fool for Love Sam Shepard May 2011
2011-2012 The Nativity Patdro Harris December 2011
2011-2012 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Todd Kreidler July 2012
2012-2013 The Mountaintop Katori Hall November/December 2012
2012-2013 Two Trains Running August Wilson February/March 2013
2012-2013 Shakin the Rafters David H. Bell July/August 2013
2013-2014 Spunk George C. Wolfe September/October 2013
2013-2014 Race David Mamet February/March 2014
2013-2014 Same Time, Next Year Bernard Slade July/August 2014
2017-2018 Holler If Ya Hear Me Todd Kreidler September/October 2017
2018-2019 Nina Simone: Four Women Christina Ham September 2018
2018-2019 East Texas Hot Links Eugene Lee July 2019
2018-2019 Skeleton Crew Dominique Morisseau February 2019
2019-2020 Paradise Blue Dominique Morisseau September/October 2019
2019-2020 School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play Jocelyn Bioh February/March 2020


References

[edit]
  1. ^ http://augustwilsonmonologue.com/. Retrieved 26 November 2013. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ "AMERICAN THEATRE WING ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF 2013 NATIONAL THEATRE COMPANY GRANTS". StageLight Magazine. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  3. ^ "True Colors Theatre Company: Keeping The Black Storytelling Tradition Alive in Atlanta". Broadway & Main. Retrieved 25 May 2022.