AACT is thrilled to announce the delightful and dynamic Leslie Kimbell as the keynote speaker for AACTFest 2025. A celebrated playwright, actor, and theatre director based in Athens, Georgia, Leslie brings a unique blend of charm, humor, and passion to the stage and beyond. Her keynote address promises to be equal parts inspiring, humorous, and heartwarming.

Join us on Friday, June 27, 2025, for Leslie’s keynote address at AACTFest 2025. With her unique perspective and magnetic presence, she will explore the transformative power of community theatre—its ability to educate, change lives, and champion diversity and inclusion.

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Leslie’s love affair with storytelling began in the fifth grade, inspired by her teacher, Mrs. Pugliese, who encouraged her talent for detail and storytelling. Her love of theatre was sparked just a year later when a friend introduced her to a new community theatre opening in town. This newfound passion became the foundation of a lifelong career.

Leslie’s journey took a fascinating turn as she spent 18 years traveling the world as a top-billed and award-winning burlesque headliner and model. After retiring her six-inch stilettos, she returned to her first love—community theatre—and became deeply involved with Winder-Barrow Community Theatre (WBCT) in Georgia.

It was during a late-night rehearsal discussion at Waffle House in 2014 that inspiration struck for her first play. A salty joke from a friend sparked the idea for Four Old Broads, a comedy inspired by her sassy Nannie DeVries and Aunt Sissie. The play went on to achieve remarkable success, simultaneously winning two festivals in 2016 and earning a workshop in New York City. Its world premiere in 2017 was a sold-out, record-breaking event, and it was published with Samuel French (now Concord Theatricals) in 2018.

Since the success of Four Old Broads, Leslie has written and published several more plays, including:

• Four Old Broads on the High Seas
• The Miss Magnolia Senior Citizen Beauty Pageant
• Packing Up Polly

Her upcoming works, such as The Four Old Broads Christmas Extravaganza, Whitney’s Wild Wedding, and And There I Was Butt Ass Naked – An Almost One Woman Show, continue to showcase her signature humor and heartfelt storytelling.
 

Leslie is the proud recipient of the 2021 Georgia Theatre Conference Hall of Fame Award and serves as the Theatre Partners Chair for the Del Shores Foundation. A proud Dramatist Guild Member, Leslie credits community theatre with changing her life and continues to actively participate in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia.

She is also a dedicated wife, mother to two sons, and grandmother (“Sassy”) to four beautiful grandchildren.