October 11, 2023

Kevin King's "Boxed" by Whim Productions

 

MDC playwright Kevin King's new play "Boxed" will be produced by Whim Productions October 12-22. 

Nick and Freddy’s date was going so well - until suddenly, it wasn’t. The fallout forever changes their relationships with each other and their best friends. "Boxed" is a look at the complexities of boundaries and consent, intent vs. impact, and the boxes we put each other and ourselves into.

Directed by Darrington Clark. Starring Jacque Davidson, Luke Knopke, Terrace Wyatt, Jr., and Diana Watts

more at Whim Productions




September 27, 2023

Midwest Dramatists Conference Oct 5-7, 2023

The Midwest Dramatists Center is excited to announce the return of their annual Midwest Dramatists Conference. The event will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Olathe, Kansas, on October 5-7, 2023. The conference is only open to MDC playwrights and the alumni of previous conferences. 

The Midwest Dramatists Conference hosts a series of play readings by playwrights from all over the country with feedback from expert adjudicators. This year's adjudicators are actor and playwright Sean Grennan and playwright, dramaturg, educator, and theatre artist Lindsay Adams Kennedy.

Sean Grennan
Sean was an actor for many years, Sean began writing for the theatre as co-librettist for the musical Phantom of the Country Opera, which had its world premiere at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. He went on to debut five shows at the American Heartland Theatre –his comedies Beer for Breakfast and As Long As We Both Shall Live and his musicals (librettist/lyricist) Married Alive!, A Dog’s Life, and Another Night Before Christmas. In addition, Sean has had four world premieres at Peninsula Players Theatre — Making God Laugh, The Tin Woman, Now and Then and A Rock Sails By, which was part of the statewide festival, “World Premiere Wisconsin”. His play LUCK! won an honorable mention from the National Writers Association’s Playwrighting Festival and was produced by the Epic Theatre Company. Combined, his plays and musicals have gone on to hundreds of productions around the world, including China, England, Australia, Germany, Serbia, Russia, and others. Sean has been the Playwright in Residence at Centre Stage’s New Play Festival, the Playwright in Residence at Lamb Arts Regional Theatre and twice served as an adjudicator for the Midwest Dramatists Conference. Longtime Chicago and New York City residents, Sean and his wife Kathy recently moved to Pennsylvania when Kathy completed a 13-year run in Broadway’s Wicked. In PA, they share office space with their excellent dog, Hank. His musical Phantom of the Country Opera has been published by MTI, and his other plays/musicals have been published by Playscripts, Inc. Sean is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA and The Dramatists Guild.

Lindsay Adams Kennedy
Lindsay is a playwright, dramaturg, educator, and theatre artist. She has been honored nationally for her work as a playwright—her plays, River Like Sin and Rattler were semi-finalists for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and her in-development musical Like Cinders (written with Rebecca Nisco) was a semi-finalist with the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference. Her Own Devices received the Judith Barlow Prize and a reading at WP Theatre in NY, followed by a production with KC Public Theatre. Her work has been produced and developed across the US with companies like Theatre Alliance (DC), Actors Theatre of Indiana (IN), Keegan Theatre (DC), and Midwest Dramatists Center (MO). Her work writing theatre for young audiences has also been commissioned by companies like CLIMB Theatre (MN) and Springville Center for the Arts (NY). She has dramaturged and directed for companies like the Unicorn Theatre, Confluence Theatre, and St. Louis Shakespeare in Kansas City, as well as worked independently with a number of playwrights as a new work dramaturg and director. She has been a script reader for theatre companies like Unicorn Theatre and Kitchen Dog Theatre and been a reviewer for the Dramatist Guild Foundation Playwriting Fellowship and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Playwriting Awards. Her creative works have been published in Their Own Devices: A Collection of Kansas City Playwrights (forthcoming), Stage It, Stream It: Plays for Virtual Theatre, Tahoma Literary Review, CutBank Literary Journal, Reunion: The Dallas Review, OxMag, some scripts, and Nexus Journal. She is a proud member of the Dramatists’ Guild and has an MFA in Playwriting from the Catholic University of America. She is currently a PhD Candidate at Saint Louis University and an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Benedictine University.

May 27, 2023

MDC Conference returns in October

The Midwest Dramatists Center is excited to announce that we will have a 2023 conference on October 5-7, 2023, after a long pandemic break!

Conference attendance is currently limited to alumni of previous conferences. If you are an alumni and haven't heard from us, then contact director@midwestdramatists.org if you are interested in attending.

Depending on how many alumni attend, we may open up any available spots to new applicants, so stay tuned. We hope to know more by the end of June. 


December 4, 2022

Kevin King's "They Listen" Reading Dec. 12


They Listen by Kevin King

When Cody meets Will on an app and invites him over, Cody and his straight roommate Paul find themselves in situations they'd never fathomed. A look at identity, paranoia, and belief.

Content Notice: Contains lots of queer and sexual themes. Suggested for Mature Audiences. 

7:00pm Monday, December 12, 2022
415 Prospect Avenue (in the former United Christian Church)
There is limited parking next to the building and parking on the street.
Note: Please contact us if you have accessibility needs.

Cody - Jack Kneessy
Will - Tyler McCall
Paul - McCandlys Harrison
Stage Directions - Bradley Meyer

Feel free to bring non-perishable food items, hygiene items, or winter hats, coats, and gloves! We're collecting for the Theatre Community Fund of Kansas City.

About the playwright

Kevin King (he/him) is a queer playwright in Kansas City, MO, and producing artistic director of Whim Productions, a theater company dedicated to producing works by LGBTQ+ playwrights. He was a 2016 playwright-in-residence in The Charlotte Street Foundation's studio residency program. His work ranges from camp and satire to unblinking looks at moments in modern queer lives.

His short play "The Swallows'' was selected for the Smith & Kraus Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2022 anthology and for the William Inge Festival's 2019 New Play Lab. His short play "Debating" was a 2021 semi-finalist for the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival. A reading of his full-length play “Hyenas” was presented by the Dramatists Guild’s Kansas/Missouri Region’s Footlights series in 2021. In 2022, Kansas City Public Theatre produced a developmental reading of “Boxed,” a gay #metoo play.



October 31, 2022

Lezlie Revelle Zucker's "Night at the Palace" Reading Nov 7


This month MDC is invited to a special workshop reading of a new musical by Lezlie Revelle Zucker and MDC founder David Hanson.

Night at the Palace 

7:30pm Monday, November 7, 2022
Congregation Beth Torah
6100 W 127th St, Overland Park, KS 66209

Sophie Grace is a pop star for the ages now at the end of her career. Maia is struggling singer at the beginning. Both are booked tonight at the Palace theater to sing about family, fame, and failure. It's two concerts forty years apart but simultaneously happening now because there's always a little magic when it's A Night At The Palace.

Cast
Franci Talamentez-Witte – Sophie Grace
Natalee Merola – Maia
Larry Goodman – Darrell

Artistic Team
Lezlie Revelle Zucker – Lyricist, Composer, Musical Director
David Hanson – Librettist, Director
Susie Adams – Accompanist