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Disgraced. Unicorn. 11/2/2017

This play was Shakespearen in theme. Is someone made into what everyone else believes that they already are? Do our prejudices and bigotry actually create the hated images and people we sofeat? This is an important work that everyone needs to see. It was amazing in its telling of what it means to live under modern racist pressure, and how destructive that can be. Amazingly performed. The lighting was gorgeous. Set perfect. Everything was just 110%.

Eclipsed by Danai Gurira at the Unicorn Theatre

I knew "Eclipsed" was going to be brilliant, and difficult to watch, but I was not prepared. This story sits in your bones and makes you consider all the wars women fight across the world, and the fights the women of Liberia have had to wage.

The story follows the wives of a commanding officer. The wives were taken during raids, and the play pulls no punches regarding murder, rape or war crimes. What is different is all of the story is told from the point of view of the women, women whose very identities and names are wiped out due to war and man's whims. All of the actresses were amazing, but Teisha M. Bankston was a powerhouse. It was amazing to watch her transformations.

Hand to God at The Unicorn 9.8.16

Last night I watched Hand to God by Robert Askins at The Unicorn Theatre. The Unicorn's calling card is a play or musical with heart that has been put into a blender with some methamphetamines. Everything is just a little off base. In this case, a puppet has become possessed in a church basement and has taken over a young boy named Jason (Bob Linebarger).

I don't know where Mr. Bob Linebarger has been, but the boy needs help and to do these things more often. He plays not only himself, but the psychotic puppet Tyrone, to perfection. It is scary good. There is a scene, I can't ruin it for you but it is worth all the prices of admission from now until the end of time, where Jessica (Mariem Diaz) is playing puppets with Jason. Jessica wrangles her puppet Jolene while Jason wrangles Tyrone. The audience was dying. We couldn't stop. We couldn't hardly let the actors finish their scene. It got awkward how long they just stood there. Just go watch that scene. I swear on the graffiti wall of a church basement.

Now I think Pastor Greg (Marc Liby) is just adorable. I think he's just the cutest since I saw him in Hands on a Hardbody. He can hold his own as the relatively normal force in this cast of crazies. Whenever he is on the docket, watch him. He's very changeable, so it's hard to recognize him from show to show. I love him.

Heidi Van (Margery) I have not seen act before. I was an idiot and didn't see Marilyn/God at the Fishtank. She is an actor, creator, producer and extremely well respected in Kansas City. She's also fucking AHMAZING. Sweet lord the scene in the office with Matthew J. Lindblom (Timmy) also had the audience rolling. Margery could have been a character written off as a caricature, but Heidi Van is too much of an expert for that. Margery had depth and tilted the show around her. And for someone to steal attention from a demonic god damn puppet is a masterpiece of epic proportions.

Kansas City. Only in Kansas City. My friend turned to me and said "Hey, wasn't Matthew J. Lindblom in that rap musical about Lupis?" Yes. Only in Kansas City. One month you're in scrubs rapping about Lupis for KC Fringe, the next month you're strutting around with some of KC's finest in the most hilarious show of the season. You've made it, kid.

The sets and puppets were incredible. Emily Swenson and Sarah White created something living and changeable that was a masterclass in small space design and quick change. All scene designers need to check out the work they did for the quick changes. It was amazing and innovative.

This one can't be missed. Don't be an idiot. Go see it. You'll never look at puppets the same way again.

Fire in Dreamland and Bree

As part of the new works festival, tonight I saw Fire in Dreamland by Rinne Groff, starring Bree Elrod. Last Saturday as part of the festival I saw Michelle T. Johnson's play reading "Rights of Passage." A few months ago I had seen "Lot's Wife" while it was still in workshop. I am mixing everything together and it may not make sense, but, my overall point is that it is an amazing time to be part of Kansas City Theatre. There are new works being created and new works being accepted this season by the Unicorn as part of the National New Play Network. It is a place of creation, and if I may be so bold, it reminds me of the environment Mamet talks about in his book "Theatre" - everyone working together and creating for hours and hours, demanding perfection simply out of the sheer number of hours put in. It is incredible to watch new works be workshopped and born, to change and modify over time, and to watch actors develop their roles. It is glorious. And there is a wonderful group in Kansas City doing this. Right now. 

It was surreal watching Bree. I knew it would be, as I think the last time I saw her was 15 years ago in Harbach for Treacherous Journey. In the same creative vein of making and re-creating a work, actors put the hours and the time into their craft. She was always brilliant in college. Young 20s, we knew she had it. I still remember her acting this monologue where she had to pretend to act on the phone, her comedic timing was impeccable, a skill the rest of us took years to learn. As when I went on vacation to watch Kate Berry act, I had a little bit of sadness. For the past 15 years, they'd been continually working in theatre since school, while I'd put it away in a drawer since that's not something I thought I was allowed to do. I thought to myself, they've grown their craft over all these years, and I'm so behind. Look at how magnificent they are. 

Though the sadness is there from missed time, I've been working on making up for it since 2014, when I got a restart. Why are you always writing like you're running out of time. For some reason, I feel oddly competitive to those I went to school with and others in Kansas City. It is not a bitter jealousy of my 20s, or a stuck hopelessness of my 30s, but a woman nearing her 40s who knows there is a limit to time and how many stories you can create in one lifetime.

With this, let us all create new work. 

Spinning Tree Theatre's 5th season closer of AMADEUS

On Wednesday, May 4th I didn't go to a Star Wars themed wedding (as one does) but instead I attended Amadeus - put up by Spinning Tree at The Arts Asylum. Salieri was the Patron Saint of Mediocrity, but Robert Gibby Brand most certainly is not. When I arrived, the usher and I talked for a bit (and I wish I'd gotten her name) and she said the play was a master class for actors.

She was completely correct. Robert Gibby Brand was masterful, carrying the audience from present time to past. At one point while watching him, I had the distinct thought of "This is why I attend live theatre." I could hear the audience around me, and no one moved in the nearly three hour production. It was spellbinding.

Actors must see him in action.

Beautifully done, the entire production was an introspective journey for an artist. Where does talent and popularity begin? Does one seek fame at any cost? And how does one handle someone who is naturally and beautifully gifted, but who behaves as a self centered child? Is it enough to do good work, or is immortality the goal?

Bravo. This is what theatre is for.

Bond - FR!NGE FESTIVAL KC

I am attending my first Fringe show tonight... Bond at JCCC. Please support Fringe!

Facebook.com/kcfringe

The Ghosts of Lote Bravo at The Unicorn

There are plays that are moving, there are plays that are beautiful. There are plays that are fresh and exciting, and plays that are important.

The Ghosts of Lote Bravo is important.

As La Santa Muerte (Meredith Wolfe) whispers, "I do not judge, I listen," so do we, as the audience, listen and watch without judgement. Who are we to judge if a mother (Vanessa Davis) feels responsible for pushing her daughter to do whatever it took to earn money instead of starving? Who are we to judge a young man (Justin Barron) who sees no options, so he murders instead? Who are we to judge a young woman with the heart of a bull, (Rebecca Muñoz) who will do anything to get a earn her place?

It is beautifully crafted. The play is wrapped around the story of Juanda Cantu losing her daughter, reminiscent for me of the desaparecidos of Argentina. Young women, taken and left for dead, are too frequent in Ciudad Juárez, and we are shown the small steps and decisions that lead to such a disappearance. Life is simply an endurance, and a virginal Saint will not be of help in such dark times. La Santa Muerte, who requires a sacrifice of truth and tequila, is a masterful ally in dark times.

This work should not be missed as the rolling world premiere. My hope is that it will join the lexicon of American works. It is an important story.

HeLa by Jessie Salsbury - at Knox College

Peibulu Koroye was amazing playing the multiple women characters in my one act play - Henrietta Lacks, her daughter, the researcher and the medical assistant. She is a first year student, and I was honored that she chose to be a part of my play. After the play we hugged each other and I started crying - completely out of the blue. It was surreal how proud I am of her. I was watching her and I honestly wondered if I was going to pass out - my vision went blurry on the outside. It is absolutely strange to see someone take words you've written at home, typed out and fussed over in a workshop with friends, and watch an actress take those words and create different characters from them.

I did my best to enjoy it and not critique my writing. I listened for parts where the audience was not understanding or where they would've gotten bored with rustling in their seats or moving around, but I didn't hear anything in particular. It was surreal, to sit in the studio theatre where I had hung lights, completed set designs, painted sets, spent most of my four years, and my first play put up in that space was nearly 20 years after I had graduated.No words. Awesome. It was surreal seeing it and watching other people watch it, and listening to other people talk about. I was floating out of my body. I watched Robin Metz half the time to see his reactions. Talked to Professor Robin Metz afterwards and I said "you saw my play!" He said he was happy to see it. I just can't believe it.

I am honored to be a part of telling Henrietta Lacks' story, and I am honored that a first year student was given a chance to shine in this role. I hope she is given many more opportunities to act if she chooses, as she's proven that she can handle a difficult task with easy and conviction. I am extremely proud.

The Whale - The Unicorn Theatre

The Whale was beautifully done and masterfully written. It was difficult to stomach, at times, so be prepared if you have a weak gag reflex. One of the audience members next to me almost lost it during on of the more graphic scenes dealing with food. 

We all have addictions. It can be food, drugs, religion, alcohol or smoking. Our addictions take a toll on us physically, and the pain we feel we try to control chemically with a variety of methods. The Whale explores all of this, along the back drop of a very sad man who is dying under his 600 pound frame. He urges his students to write the truth and tell the truth, all while hiding alone in his grief. 

It's a painful play to watch, whether or not you can relate to the body and weight issues addressed in the play. It forces the observer to decide if they will be authentic, honest and true, or if they will hide. Hiding can take many forms, and uses a variety of vices. 

This one broke my heart, and will stay with me for a very long time. 

How to Steal a Picasso at the Unicorn

How to Steal a Picasso is my first play of 2016...and I'm thrilled it was. This is my second experience with William Missouri Downs, and I've decided his strength lies in telling us a serious truth fed to us in a farce. With Women Playing Hamlet, the lesson was how women have been left out of the theatre space and their decisions related to taking it back. In this work, art is questioned at its core. Is it art for art's sake or is it only valuable if it is consumable? 

Stephanie Demaree's dramaturg research and writing peels away the layers to reveal the true backdrop is the economic downfall of Detrtoit's bankruptcy trials of 2013-2014. The city debated selling its art that was held at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Doing so would flood private collections with this art, but leave it inaccessible to the public. There were rumors of sales of a Van Gogh during this period. 

The backdrop of Detroit is beautifully created with the set. It's detailed and gorgeously conveys a front lawn, insane entrance with poem flags and older home with walls covered in splatter art. Gary Mosby is a master of his craft, but this set is especially gorgeous. The scene and location is essential to the story, and the actors feel grounded and perfectly placed in this locale. With such a busy set and props, lighting can present a challenge. The props were a delight to look at, and Bret Engle (properties) and Sarah M. Oliver (costumes) did an exceptional work in making sure the busyness of their artistic expressions enhanced rather than distracted from the performances. Alex Perry has presented lighting designs that transition easily without being notice. They are a brighter wash that accents the set and moves our eyes to the various locations. David Kiehl had his work cut out for him the ambient noise throughout the production, but it rolled flawlessly with Tanya Brown and her stage management. 

I have never been more thrilled with one cast. It was the second night, so the middle had a bit of a pacing issue, but there is no doubt by Saturday the audience will be following along. Tommy Gorrebeeck (Johnny Smith) has made his Unicorn debut, and he's shown tremendous humor and emotional range. You know how much I love Katie Kalahurka (Casey Smith). She has transformed her physicality and voice timbre again. She uses the building blocks of the craft to build her characters from the ground up. Walter Coppage (Otto Smith) is synonymous with Kansas City theatre and is the star of the show. I could watch he and Cathy Barnett (Belle Smith) all night long go back and forth. Darren Kennedy (Mr. Walker) was amazingly over the top. 

Visit unicorn.org for tickets. 

Mr. Burns - A post Electric Play

It has taken me a long time to decide on how to write this review. This play seems ecclectic and irreverent, but something is brilliant over the surface. Over time, art changes. The Shakespeare of today is hardly recognizable from the Shakespeare of his time. What he considered crass jokes and throw away lines that he wrote in a hurry for money we now study in a classroom for our doctorates. In the same way, Anne Washburn really hits on what would happen if our modern day society stopped in an apocolypse and what stories would we tell from that point onward. When the play ends, 75 or so years after the first act after the apocolypse, the music and stories told regarding lost television and musical history are far different than what was actually real. Over and over, the characters remind each other of the bits and pieces they recall, hobbling together a show and buying lines from others. At the end, they create something that is so different than what was the original product that we would see on our television screens at the beginning. It is a written testimony of how storytelling and history changes perception, and how what was inane and simple could be misconstrued to be revered or holy.

It is absolutely insane to try and explain or summarize it. The Unicorn's dramaturg did a brilliant job. 

Please visit unicorn.org for ticket information. 

This production is co-created with UMKC and it is absolutely well-done from the set to the costumes to the acting. The start, however, is Manon Halliburton. She gave a chilling monologue delivery at the beginning that set the tone and description of the entire apolocolpyse. If she didn't do her job on point, the entire first act would have been off kilter. She absolutely nailed it. I would highly recommend any aspiring actors watch her from start to finish with her physicality and her voice control - she is a force. Matthew King's over the top humor in the second act was a surprise. He over-played in just the right areas. As a team, the entire ensemble had to ebb and flow between multiple changes, both in character growth, while almost playing themselves as a morality play. This is extremely difficult and demanding work. They did an outstanding job. 

Word of warning, the Simpsons music will be in your head for a week afterwards. 

Midwest Dramatists Fundraiser

Tonight I attended a fundraiser at the Midwest Dramatists Center at the Writer's Place. I got to see a friend from college, the amazing Bree Elrod, and wrote a very small script that she got to act in. I had no idea that such a group existed to support local playwrights and writers. Currently, they are working on configuring the downstairs into a more workable blackbox space. I would highly consider giving to this organization as part of your end of year giving. For more information on the Midwest Dramatists Center, please visit www.midwestdramatists.org - It was well worth the $30 donation and local theatre lovers should attend if they have another!

The Oldest Boy by Sarah Ruhl - The Unicorn

For details on tickets, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/796884210410704/ 

This is the opening show to the Unicorn's 42nd season. It is absolutely a risky and complicated show. The topic itself, motherhood and attachment parenting across cultures, is difficult to master. Add in puppetry, time jumps, and scene changes can leave this as one monumental task. 

Katie Kalahurka (mother) was brilliant. I adored her in last's season's Spinning Tree Production of Ghost Rider. It's amazing to see her capture humor and grief in one performance. She is probably my favorite local actor. 

Vi Tran (father) was masterful in his portrayal of one having to move between cultures. His character grew, changing his opinions and convictions, which could have easily been flat. He brought a depth and warmth to the character and turned the play in the direction it needed to go. 

Alex Espy (oldest boy) and Andi Meyer (puppeteer) were masterful and gorgeous in their flow, movements and stage presence. I can't describe too much of what they did because I want any new audience members to be surprised. 

Wai Yim (A Lama) was simply amazing and incandescent when he has scenes to play off of with Katie Kalahurka. It was akin to watching a perfectly timed tennis match. Every gesture and line had another volley back. Brilliant. Sharp direction by Cynthia Levin and impeccable acting. 

Thomas Tong (a monk) did a wonderful job of cluing the audience in to what was going on before it was revealed. I hope to see him grow in more roles in other productions. 

The technical aspects of the play were seamless and amazing. Sarah White (Scenic designer), TzuChing Chen (Asst Scenic designer), Paul Mesner (puppet direction), and Mike Horner (puppet design and construction) had a large challenge that they conquered wonderfully. As always, Tanya Brown (Stage Manager) was on point to make sure it ran on time. This was a preview night, and I'm usually prepared to be very gracious in my reviews with technical glitches. It was flawless. 

My only critique is the second act felt very rushed. There was a lot of great build up in the first act, backstory and emotional discussions. The second act felt like it was hurrying to tie everything in so quickly in a bow it felt unnatural. What it felt like was a major decision was almost made off stage. I can't tell you anything else without spoiling it for you, but that's my only negative in an absolutely gorgeous and well done work. It's honest, daring, difficult, gutsy and complicated with emotions and technical challenges. What a way to open a season. 

Tribes - Unicorn Theatre -

I experienced "Tribes" last night at the Unicorn Theatre. I went last night on purpose as it was going to be interpreted into sign language. 

As I was getting to my seat, the audience was filled with members of the Deaf community who were signing to each other across the theatre, gesturing and translating where to sit in order to see the interpreters. It was a partially quiet audience since half of us were speaking only in sign language. I felt like an outsider but I was ok feeling like an outsider. It was part of the point. 

Even though this show has four seasoned actors and two newcomers, all six of them balanced beautifully. They all were intense and quiet at the right times. The emotion and the fighting could have pushed to melodrama, but it felt authentic of a family who is dysfunctional in the way they show affection. Is it dysfunctional in the conventional way you think of abuse? No, it's more insidious, and it's brilliant and almost feels too long and uncomfortable as the backdrop to Billy's (Paul Ososki) silence at the top of the work. Christopher (David Fritts), Beth (Jan Rogge), Ruth (Nicole Marie Green), and Daniel (Jake Walker) are all yelling at each other, leaving us, and Billy, confused. Billy has been treated as not deaf, but in doing so, he's been left feeling isolated. The very thing the parents and family was striving to do had the opposite effect. 

Jan Rogge is brilliant. I can't say enough about her. She has to be sympathetic, angry, liked, hated, near tears, the whole gamut. It's easy to overlook her performance with the caustic lines that David Fritts delivers as the patriarch Christopher, but Jan is a jewel. Caught between these parents, Nicole has to play Ruth as sometimes in control and sometimes not. Though her part is smaller compared to the rest, she never lets you forget she's there. She shows us heartbreak in the midst of a dark comedic moment. 

I'm completely biased because Jake Walker is a friend of a friend, and an alum of Creed Rep. What he had to do as Daniel was absolutely dangerous. Whenever one interprets someone with a mental illness, there is the danger of becoming a caricature, or laughable. Jake's brilliance was the believability and the breath-holding moments of not knowing what Daniel was going to do next. Was he going to kill someone? Kill himself? Kill Billy, his anchor, if he tried to go off on his own? Drive Sylvia away if she tries to take Billy away? You just don't know what Daniel is going to do or say next, within the confines of a believable character in the midst of unbelievable physicality. As I told him, he killed it. Absolutely killed it. 

Among all this, Paul Ososki (Billy) and Lisa Lehnen (Sylvia) navigated their relationship with a new language. I think there was supposed to be screens on the stage that showed what was being signed but they malfunctioned. As someone who didn't know sign, I missed some of Sylvia's dialogue. I actually thought that was brilliant. Earlier, when half the audience was signing to one another, I was similarly lost. I wasn't in that tribe. This play wasn't for me, or about me. I was going to miss parts. 

As I was leaving the theatre, I patron behind me mumbled, "Well, I give that a C+, I couldn't understand what they were signing or saying half the time. I felt lost." I almost turned around to give him a hand gesture I knew he wouldn't misinterpret, but I kept it to myself. Really, I think that was the part of the play that is important, and having the subtitles break in the middle of the show was actually quite brilliant. The Deaf community doesn't have the benefit of subtitles and people patient enough to teach or show them what is being said. As a hearing person, lost at what is happening, we got a taste of our own medicine. 

This is an exceptional article which talks about the director's desire for authenticity of the casting of Paul Ososki (Billy) as a profoundly deaf actor and of casting Lisa Lehnen (Sylvia) a ASL interpreter: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article22930440.html . 

* The best translation? Having Paul Walker gesture a blow job, and watching the interpreters interpret it again. Hilarious. The interpreters were just as expressive and on point as the actors, and they become part of the show themselves.

Cock - The Unicorn Theatre (the play that must not be named)

This play is hard to explain. (Pun intended). Basically, John has a long term boyfriend, M, and goes out with a woman, W. John is confused about his feelings and sexuality. And M's dad, F, puts in his two cents which doesn't help. All played out without props, just a set laid out like a boxing ring and four actors. 

90 minutes. No intermission. A ding of a bell signaling the next movement. Actors spitting on each other but never touching at all. Circling. Everyone in gray but the love interest in red like a red flag at a bull fight. Amazing. Dizzying. 

The writing in this is like being dropped in the middle of a conversation where you want to interject by yelling at everyone involved. It's beyond snappy. Everyone was brilliant, but Zachary Andrews (M) was something incandescent. He had to be somewhat of a bastard, but likable at the same time. He had to be angry but testy, fed up but not willing to stop. Everything circled around him, and if that actor hadn't been magnificent, this show wouldn't have worked. Everything plays to him. 

John, played by Jacob Aaron Cullum, is written as milk toast, as someone with no spine and no direction. That is difficult to play as an actor without coming across as low energy. It took a while to catch what was happening, and then I saw John with (W) Molly Denninghoff. John was himself. But sweet. Communicative. With new mannerisms but the same confused core. It's easy to downplay Jacob's brilliance in light of Zachary but he did exactly what he needed to do. We hate John because he won't make up his mind. His silence is infuriating. 

The end scene, the farce-like dinner party, is so brilliant. It's written well, and the fight between (F), Matthew Rapport, and (W) Molly Denninghoff is controlled and then on fire. 

The whole show is angry, seething, a bit of sweet, but quite a ride. Not for the faint of heart. Well done. 

National New Play Network Wine Tasting

Tonight I met Nan from the National New Play Network. I got to chat with her just a bit. She told all of us that by supporting new works that we aren't patrons - we are artists that are influencing the Anerican canon of theatre works that will go on to influence the world. 

She asked me what I did. I told her I was a playwright, and she told me for sure I need to get my work on the new play exchange. For $10 year a playwright can submit their work and Theatres can search by topic, number of actors, length and pick a play from the new play database. She said 5 plays have already been produced from this database. 

I met 3 new playwrights - we all sat at the same table - and they've put their works into the Fringe festival. Tonight was amazing. I'm so lucky. 

A Year of Theatre

March of 2014 was a period of deep reflection on what I wanted, and what was needed to make sure I stayed healthy. I had lived a long time, 13 years, doing what I was supposed to do. Working, many times two jobs. We never had enough money, or enough time. Life was going at a breakneck pace and the things I loved, theatre and writing, were put away as childish hobbies in the pursuit of real life. 

Then real life hits you like a freight train. Over and over I said that I felt as if I were a square peg trying to force myself into a round hole, and if you keep banging it long enough, it will crack. No matter how hard you try to make it work, it won't. You will force and force and you'll just end up miserable. 

At 37 I decided I'd rather be a terrible playwright than a really good (insert anything else). 

In March of 2014 I was very sick, sitting by myself, being asked what would make me happy. What would make me content. What had contributed to the crack of the square peg. I had to go through a series of exercises, painting, drawing and writing what I wanted my life to look like. 

I made a watercolor of Harbach theatre in Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, I wrote journal entry after journal entry about what I would regret not doing, and I drew a diagram and to-do list on how to go about fixing the cracks. 

I'm not saying mental health is easy, that one can just wave a magic wand and it all go away. There is a lot of work to be done when facing a mental illness. It's real, it's dangerous, and it has to be dealt with. Every day, every minute. Any weapon at your disposal must be utilized. One of my weapons is writing. 

In looking back at this blog, it is a time capsule of what I've done in one year. I've written 4 plays. I've attended more shows this year than I did the past 13. I held play writing workshops. I went on vacation. I got a new job. 

I couldn't have done all these changes without my family's support. I always have house responsibilities, but every spare minute I have is spent writing or attending a theatre production. 

How does it feel to be a terrible playwright? 

Pretty damn amazing. 

Women Playing Hamlet - Part 2

I cannot get over Women Playing Hamlet at The Unicorn. I was at work the other day and I started laughing, and my coworker asked what was going on. I just mentioned I was laughing about the show that I'd seen.

The week before.

This show was everything a theatre production should be. Funny, well executed, a set and costumes that seamlessly worked to convey the entire message. Every actress (yes, all women!) was on point for every minute of the play. The audience was engaged the entire time.

The actresses: Katie Karel, Kathleen Warfel, Cathy Barnett, and Meredith Wolfe were dazzling as they jumped from character to character or from scene to scene. It was breathtaking to watch. 

The men's roles were played by these women, but it was not performed in a caricature fashion. Underneath the humor was a story of heart and an examination choices we must face as artists. Do we go for the difficult choice, to play Hamlet? Or do we go to the sure thing, to act on a daytime Soap?

You do have one easy choice. Whether or not to see this show. You have to go. There are still nights that are 'pay what you can' that are open on the calendar, so there is no excuse.

May your Hamlet handbag fall apart in the wash and your drama teacher drown you in scarves if you miss this show.

Women Playing Hamlet - The Unicorn

I will post a more detailed review tomorrow, but I feel like I'm going to bawl over this play. If you are a woman in theatre you have to see this. This is not optional. 

This play touched on so many struggles that female artists face. This play was hilarious, but it gave a lot of substance to women's roles in theatre and how they are viewed undertaking this role, and the women who've played Hamlet before. The cast was four women, all of whom switched roles (except the lead), and the women played the men's parts. They mentioned Patrick Stewart frequently and Benedict Cumberbatch once. It was like Christmas!! 

I can't get over how within a week I've seen two shows in Kansas City with great roles for women. We really are a lucky town. Go see Black Pearl Sings at The Spinning Tree and then watch Women Playing Hamlet here at the Unicorn. You will see some of the most talented and diverse talent in Kansas City, in addition to being treated to two new plays. This town is amazing. New York ain't got nothing on us. 

 

Jessie Salsbury

Brick Street Theatre

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