On October 20, 2018, during the Southern Writers Festival of New Plays, Alabama Shakespeare Festival debuted a short film that documents the State of the South tour.

The road trip and conversations inspired us to launch our new play commission initiative. Over the next five years, Alabama Shakespeare Festival will commission 22 plays, with more than half of the commissions going to female playwrights and playwrights of color.

Through our conversations with you, we determined our goal is “to grow the Southern theatre canon with stories steeped in specificity that are reflective of the diversity of the region yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”