FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            April 23, 2008
Press/media contact: (818) 679-2086

On June 28-29, 2008 award-winning stage actor/writer Adilah Barnes will teach her first solo writing workshop at the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre in Atlanta , Georgia . A week-end intensive, “From Thought to Pen” will be limited to 12 students and will take place from 10-6pm on both days at The Woodruff Center located at 1280 Peachtree Street, NE , Atlanta , GA 30309 . The first of its kind at the Alliance Theatre, this workshop will offer a safe, nurturing and inspirational space for actors and writers to recall and develop their personal stories for the stage.

Barnes is no stranger to solo shows having gotten her feet wet as she toured from 1986-89 with the African American Drama Company in their nationally toured “Sister, Can I Speak for You.” She later conceived her own historical solo show, “I Am That I Am: Woman, Black” in 1990 and has since toured her seven-character stage work to close to 40 states and three continents including North America (the US and Caribbean) Africa (Nigeria) and Europe (Holland.)

Even before she became an actor at age sixteen in Project Upward Bound at California State University at Chico , Barnes began her creative expression by picking up the pen as a short story and poetry writer. She was born and raised in nearby Oroville , California , a rural community of dusty roads, busy bodies and indeed a village that raised its own. Many of her early small town experiences and community mentors have significantly shaded her work as an adult actor and writer.

Barnes gained her formal college education and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Arts at the University of California , Santa Cruz . She continued to connect her creative dots in the Bay Area as she cut her teeth on professional theatre and for the last nineteen years has resided in the Los Angeles area as an actor, instructor, producer, writer and internet talk show host. Her latest artistic calling has summoned her to Atlanta , Georgia , making her a bicoastal artist. She now resides in both the Los Angeles and Atlanta areas.

In addition to coming aboard at the Alliance Theatre this summer, Barnes last year founded The Writer’s Well, A Literary Retreat for Women, also located in the Atlanta area. With the backdrop of 1.8 acres of sprawling Georgia pines, oaks and maple trees, its woodsy and serene environment lends itself well to offering a perfect setting to write without the distractions of the familiar.

Also, Barnes is Co-Founder and Executive Producer of the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival. This year in March marked its 15th Anniversary of producing over 400 solo artists and since 2005 teaching over 3000 public school youth. Performers from India , the Netherlands , New York , Chicago , Miami , Oklahoma and up and down the state of California joined hands to celebrate this year’s banner Festival year. The non-profit received much deserved commendations from Mayor Villaraigosa, Senators Diane Watson and Alex Padilla, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, Councilman Tom La Bonge and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Said Barnes, “I have always been a trailblazer, and it is part of my life’s work to give creatively to every community I have been a part of. That certainly includes Los Angeles , and now Atlanta .”

To enroll in the Alliance Theatre’s “From Thought to Pen” workshop visit alliancetheatre.org. or call (404) 733-4700.

Reservations for The Writer’s Well may be made at www.WritersRetreat.com/Georgia.htm or abarnes@writersretreat.com. Call (818) 679-2086 for more information.

Barnes’ upcoming book, On My Own Terms: One Actor’s Journey chronicles her life as an artist from age sixteen. It will be released later this year. For more information, visit www.adilahbarnes.com.

ADILAH BARNES

Barnes portrayed the recurring character of “Judge Randall” in Lifetime Television’s new series For the People.  She recently premiered in HBO’s critically acclaimed Iron Jawed Angels.  She can also be seen currently in a VISA national commercial. 

Barnes is the founder of the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (“LAWTF”) - an annual, multi-cultural festival for solo female performers throughout the country who gather each year in the month of March to perform in the disciplines of dance, theatre, story-telling, poetry, music, performance art and comedy. Danny Glover and Hattie Winston are co-chairs.  

Barnes is an acting teacher to some of Hollywood’s finest, including Benjamin Bratt (for Law & Order); Toni Braxton (for Play’d and Kingdom Come); Jada Pinkett-Smith (for Set it Off); Don “DC” Curry (for Grace Under Fire) Kym Whitley and many others. 

Barnes co-starred as Anna in Erin Brokovich and was the character Anne Marie on ABC’s Roseanne for five seasons.    

Barnes guest-stars on several sitcoms including CBS’ Family Law and The Agency, WB’s The Gilmore Girls, and UPN’s Roswell 

Barnes is writer and producer of her own historical one-woman, international touring show, I Am That I Am: Woman, Black, a captivating journey through the lives of seven African American women, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry and Angela Davis.  

Barnes was born in the small northern California town of Oroville, in the Sacramento Valley, the fifth of seven children.  

After receiving a B.A. in Theatre Arts at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Barnes moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and began stage training at the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT). At ACT, Barnes became the first African American female to teach full-time in their Advanced Training Program. In 1989 Barnes headed for Hollywood to pursue a career in television and film.  

As a mentor, Barnes was recently chosen by 16-year old New Jersey scholar, Sasha Pemberton who lived with and “shadowed” Barnes’ daily routines and show business aspects for 3 ½ weeks as part of a Summer Signature Program offered by the prestigious Peddie School in Heightstown, New Jersey.