Rehearsals are underway for the first production of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Theatre 2019-20 season with “An Italian Straw Hat” on Oct. 18.
“For decades, UMKC Theatre has been enriching the Kansas City theatre scene by providing actors, dramaturgs, costume designers, stage managers, production managers, sound designers and more,” said Kenneth Martin, UMKC Theatre chair and Patricia McIlrath Endowed Professor of Theatre. “We’re proud to continue that tradition with a strong first production, ‘An Italian Straw Hat.’ ”
The Productions
An Italian Straw Hat
Oct. 18 through Oct. 27 in Spencer Theatre
This is an undergraduate and graduate production by Eugène Labiche and Marc-Michel, and newly translated by Felica Londré, Ph.D., Curators’ Distinguished Professor. The show is directed by Ian Crawford, associate artistic director at Unicorn Theatre.
Groom-to-be Fadinard gallops all over Paris on his wedding day in search of a straw hat to replace one his horse has inadvertently eaten. Followed in hot pursuit by his fiancée, her blustering father and a giant wedding party of her country relatives, Fadinard makes his way through increasingly ridiculous situations to try to save his big day. In a new translation by Londré, with a contemporary pop music score, this hysterical French farce is not to be missed.
Tickets are $12 each. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the UMKC Central Ticket Office.
Discovery Project
Oct. 18 through Oct. 21 in Studio 116 of the Olson Performing Arts Center
The Discovery Project is an opportunity for first-year MFA acting and design students to deepen and express the discoveries they are making in their first few months of training. It is a personal and creative lab. This production is free. Tickets are not required.
Fall Intensive
Nov. 14 through Nov. 18 in Room 105 of Grant Hall
This is an undergraduate production directed by Heidi Van, producing artistic director at Fishtank Theatre.
Annually, Fishtank Theatre works with UMKC undergraduate theatre students on a production that fuses form and idea in a devised piece based on the students’ themed class work.
This production is free. Tickets are not required.
The Moors
Nov. 29 through Dec. 8 in Studio 116 of Olson Performing Arts Center
This is a graduate production by Jen Silverman and directed by Kim Martin-Cotten.
Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, and dream of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. “The Moors” is a dark comedy about love, desperation and visibility.
Tickets are $12 each. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the UMKC Central Ticket Office.
White Rose: We Defied Hitler
Jan. 24, 2020, through Feb. 9, 2020, at Crown Center, 2450 Grand Ave., Suite 144
This is a graduate co-production with Coterie Theatre by David Meyers, and directed by Jeff Church and Markus Potter.
Based on real events, “White Rose: We Defied Hitler” is a challenging new work that examines the role of ordinary people in extraordinary times. This gripping and intriguing play tells the true story of Sophie Scholl, a German college student who led one of the major acts of public resistance to the Nazis during the Second World War. The play contains little-known facts about Sophie, her brother Hans, and the civil disobedience of the White Rose movement in Nazi Germany. Scholl’s moral strength is tested while being interrogated for her crimes, leading her to question whether to save her own life or continue her righteous crusade.
Tickets start at $15 each. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Coterie Theatre.
Blood Wedding
March 6 through March 15 in Studio 116 of Olson Performing Arts Center
This is an undergraduate production by Federico García Lorca and directed by Vanessa Severo.
Two families in semi-mythical rural Spain are intricately bound in an unbreakable cycle of murder and revenge. The death-bound love triangle at the center of the play fuels these passions to a fever pitch and propels the story to its unstoppable tragic conclusion. An arranged country marriage between the children of rich landowners is about to take place. A past lover, himself in a loveless marriage, cannot allow the wedding to take place and spirits the bride away, who goes with him willingly on her wedding night. An entire town goes after the lovers in the middle of the night where pursuers and pursued plunge into a realm of deep darkness where the moonlight is not friendly and the forest not shelter enough.
Tickets start at $12 each. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the UMKC Central Ticket Office.
Playwright Showcase
April 16 through April 20 in Room 105 of Grant Hall
This is an undergraduate production. Playwrights and directors will be announced later. The show includes staged premieres by UMKC Theatre undergraduate, graduate and alumni playwrights performed by undergraduate actors.
This production is free. Tickets are not required.
Divided
April 24 through May 3 in Studio 116 of Olson Performing Arts Center
This is a graduate production and devised production about what sets Americans apart and what brings us together. It is co-created by Stephanie Roberts, associate professor of Physical Theatre; and the second year MFA Acting Ensemble.
How do we cope in an increasingly divided nation? Where do we turn when the growing schisms within politics, race, gender, sexuality, religion and class have become part of our daily lives? Using physical theatre, interviews, music, comedy and personal storytelling, the second-year MFA acting students take on these questions to discover how looking at America’s divisions can ultimately bring us together.
Tickets start at $12 each. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the UMKC Central Ticket Office.
About UMKC Theatre
The UMKC Theatre program offers students intensive, hands-on experience for all aspects of theatre production. The department has an established tradition of working with local theatres so that its actors, designers and stage managers may benefit from working alongside local and national professionals. UMKC partners with the Unicorn Theatre, The Coterie, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Actors Theatre and Fishtank Performance Studio, granting students the unique opportunity to establish relationships and build their professional career while earning their degree.