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
Funny how productions of older shows so often reflect our present reality. That’s certainly the case with the handsome MTH Theater production of “Ragtime,” the award-winning 1998 musical based on
Well, now. Kansas City Repertory Theatre dishes up a gleaming Cadillac production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” deftly directed, elegantly designed and festooned with vivid performances from one
I asked myself two questions as I collected my thoughts on “Hamilton,” the commercial mega-hit that finally made its way to Kansas City this week: First, how would the production strike me if by some miracle I was oblivious to the award-winning show’s river of hype? Second, how would I enjoy this historical epic set […]
Let us begin with a confession. As I drove home from the lively opening-night performance of “Shakespeare in Love” at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, I found myself contemplating a basic question: Why, exactly, did there need to be a stage version of the 1998 Oscar-winning movie co-written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom […]
Good actors. Good director. Interesting play with a self-indulgent sense of humor and a salient point to make. The Unicorn Theatre closes its 2018-19 season with a lively production of Lauren Gunderson’s “The Revolutionists,” a two-act piece that could be described, more or less, as a feminist meta-comedy set in 18th-century France — a time […]
Kansas City Actors Theatre brings together an ensemble of gifted stage veterans for its thoughtful production of Paul Osborn’s gentle 1939 comedy “Morning’s at Seven.” And the results are what you might expect: detailed character work, great timing and a level of commitment that actually elevates the material. A show like this makes perfect sense […]
Vanessa Severo has assigned herself a next-to-impossible task in the one-woman show, “Frida . . . A Self Portrait” — to tell a compressed version of the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo while weaving the actress/playwright’s own story into a kaleidoscopic narrative. Clocking in at about 75 minutes, the show whips along at such […]
Actor/playwright Logan Black’s “Bond” is, among other things, a tale of service, bravery, fear and endurance in a time of war. But beyond that, this extended monologue is a love story. And like any good love story should, it packs a punch. Black and a smart yellow lab named Diego served together in Iraq as […]
