Robert Trussell, Author at KC STUDIO

Robert Trussell

Robert Trussell is a veteran journalist who has covered news, arts and theater in Kansas City for almost four decades.

Blast From the Past: Unicorn’s “Bernhardt/Hamlet” Bristles with Good Performances

My regular readers know that my tolerance for plays about the theater is extremely low, but every now and then I run across a happy exception. The Unicorn Theatre (in collaboration with UMKC Theatre) offers up a well-acted production of Theresa Rebeck’s ambitious “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” in which the playwright toys with the historical fact that French […]

December 9, 2019
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Music and Color Abound in KC Rep’s Leaner Version of ‘A Christmas Carol.’

And so once again audiences are invited to bear witness to the spiritual transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge from penny-pinching cynic to warm-hearted benefactor to the poor. And again theatergoers fill virtually every available seat to see Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s annual take on “A Christmas Carol,” the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens, who used his […]

December 1, 2019
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Spinning Tree Offers “Caroline, or Change,” a Rich Musical with a Lot on its Mind

Kudos to Spinning Tree Theatre for staging the first Kansas City-area production of “Caroline, or Change,” a challenging, innovative musical from Tony Kushner (book and lyrics) and Jeannine Tesori (music) that places intimate human relationships against a sprawling social and political backdrop. As usual with Spinning Tree, the production raises an obvious question: How is […]

November 10, 2019
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New Players Expand KC Theater Scene

Kansas City theater is all about starting small. What became Kansas City Repertory Theatre, for example, began at UMKC as a summer repertory company that performed in an un-air-conditioned space lovingly referred to by Rep veterans as the Quonset Hut.

November 5, 2019
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The Plan: Develop New Work and Reflect the City’s Cultural Diversity

We caught up with Stuart Carden, the new artistic director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, in early September, not long after Kansas City Repertory Theatre made it known that the Chicago director, collaborator and “devisor” would be the fifth artistic director in the theater company’s history.

October 30, 2019
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A Serious Comedy at the Unicorn: ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’

I wasn’t sure what to expect from “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” Lucas Hnath’s inventive sequel to the Henrik Ibsen classic. What surprised me is how funny it is. Director Darren Sextro, who staged his own adaptation of the Ibsen original in August for Kansas City Actors Theatre, now returns to direct Hnath’s compressed follow-up […]

October 21, 2019
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