Theatre Reviews
Kansas City Fringe audiences get the rare chance to see a distinguished playwright’s one-act plays prior to their fall debut in New York City as Home Grown Theatre Co. brings “I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow” and “Green Eyes” to the Fringe stage of Kansas City’s Arts Asylum.
Two talented performers portray characters in two plays by the noted playwright that draw heavily on his traditional, tormented characters. Like other works by Williams, the sultry heat of the South plays heavily in his steamy one-acts. [read more]
Much has been said about the process of writing: the struggles, the self-doubt, the painstaking process of finding just the right word in just the right place. And indeed, all of these things are true and valid aspects of the craft. But what they tend to leave out, and what writers generally keep to themselves, is that writing can make you crazy.
"Script to the Bone" gives us a case in point: Hannah (Danielle Swatzell), a debt-ridden Ph. D. who has taken on script doctoring to pay the bills.[read more]
In a way, it is unfortunate that the Fishtank is such an intimate space, as Ms Rasheedat 'Ras' Badejo's one-woman production is almost certainly going to play to sold-out houses throughout the fringe and most likely to the post-fringe "overflow" performances already slated for August. Ms Badejo's portrayal of a woman mostly forgotten by history is a fascinating one, and we expect word to get out fast. [read more]
Expect to be entertained when you see Trevor Belt, Jessica Franz, Andy Penn and a relatively new face in the KC theater scene, Casey Jane, that take on the newest works by local playwrights Inbar Kahn, Sarah Aptilon, and Victor Wishna. [read more]
Fringers with families will want to save space on their calendar for Olive Juice Theatre and their take on the legend of Jason and the Argonauts. The tale, in which would-be hero Jason is sent in to retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece, is performed in a freewheeling slapstick style with lots of comedy, songs, and audience participation. [read more]
Count on Kevin King and his pack of talented (or if is untalented) crazies to present an ever-changing evening of entertainment in “Baddest Auditions” that opened at 9 p.m., Friday, July 23, at the Musical Theatre Heritage Stage 2. [read more]
“Where are all the girl action figures?! Where’s Black Widow??! Where’s Wonder Woman??!” And so begins Brick Street Theatre’s 60 minute rant, protest and exposé on the misogynist tendencies of the comic book genre and its holy pilgrimage site, Comicon.
Fangirls: An Improbable Cosplay is playwright, Jessie Salsbury’s venture into adapting her one-woman show from last year’s Fringe into a one-act for four actors. Set at and around a Comicon in an unnamed city, three women of indeterminate age drag their friend Otto, a Comicon newbie, around. [read more]
InkMagazine - Article on Crumblecake Production's The House of the Devil is a Hot Mess
In 1902, in Pittsburg, Texas, an inventor and clergyman by the name of Burrell Cannon built the Ezekiel Airship, an attempt to create the first powered, controlled flying machine via use of biblical principles. Working with a small group of inventors and a dedicated staff at the local foundry, Cannon created his work based on the words of Ezekiel 1:16: "The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of beryl; and they four had one likeness; and their appearance was as it were a wheel within the middle of the wheel" (a passage that has inspired more than one flying saucer theory, incidentally). Allegedly achieving flight one year before the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, the flyer was destroyed in a storm on its way to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. It is this curious sidenote to history that first-time playwright David O. Hill has chosen for his "The Story of the Century". [READ MORE]
The year is 1974. Rudolph Nureyev, lately defected from the Soviet Union, is touring the United States. Two slightly obsessive fans, Diana and Kate, are determined to meet him. What they get is a comedy of errors, a whirlwind of fantasy, a couple of solid life lessons and a dash of international intrigue. [read more]