Virtually every emotional trauma and competitive humiliation we associate with high school is on full display in Jocelyn Bioh’s “School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play,” now running at Copaken Stage, Kansas City Rep’s downtown venue. Precisely directed by Chip Miller, the production showcases superior work by a gifted cast. Bioh’s tight, 75-minute one-act […]
Even in early twentieth century Russia, raw capitalism was destroying natural beauty and remaking the landscape. But it was doing more than that. It was transforming a class system, forcing the landed gentry to scrounge for money to keep up mortgage payments while merchants descended from serfs had the cash to buy ancestral estates out […]
MTH Theater at Crown Center offers up lively entertainment packaged around a history lesson in a spirited, scaled-down production of “Show Boat,” the 1927 classic by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Director Jeff Church assembles a talented company to bring the story to life and George Harter, MTH founder, serves as emcee and history […]
The late plays of Eugene O’Neill are his best, even when they seem erratic and forced. But their theatrical power — their ability to sweep an audience up in the lives of the people on stage — are undeniable. That’s the case with “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” now receiving a handsome, well-acted production from […]
Where’s the heat? That question began resounding in my head as I watched the world-premiere production of Nathan Louis Jackson’s “Brother Toad,” the most recent work from Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s resident playwright. Presented as part of the Rep’s annual New Works Festival, this production marks the fourth Jackson play seen by Rep audiences. The […]
I’ve always been a sucker for audacity and Qui Nguyen’s “Vietgone” is nothing if not audacious. This raucous, time-jumping saga about the legacy of the Vietnam War is an in-your-face mashup. Part love story, part sex comedy, part hip-hop musical, “Vietgone” is also a compelling history play. The through-line is how Nguyen’s own parents met […]
