WRITER'S DEN SERIES: SEASON 4
Our Writer's Den series celebrates and cultivates the talents of prominent and promising local writers in the form of staged readings, workshop productions, and special events. 2013 marked the beginning of this tradition.
NO SLEEP NOVEMBER 2013
Our No Sleep November event (co-produced in 2013 by Genevieve Beller) combined (through a draft process) teams of playwrights, actors, designers, and production assistants who then had one night and one day to create a new, vibrant, all-original short play. Then we opened the doors to the public for a one-time-only theatrical experience!
2013's playwrights were: Forrest Attaway, Pete Bakely, Brian Huther, Natalie Liccardello, and Bryan Moses
Cast: Scott Cordes, Missy Fennewald, Katie Gilchrist, Bonnie Griffin, Kate Haugan, Seth Macchi, Briana Marxen-McOllum, Jen Mays, Phillip Russel Newman, Andy Perkins, Emily Shakelford, Diana Watts, Kenzie West, and Meredith Wolfe.
OUR AUTHOR DIED TODAY
by Brian Huther & Erika Baker
December 12 - 22, 2013
The inaugural run of the Writer’s Den Series included one full production titled Our Author Died Today. The piece was picked up following a successful initial run at the KC Fringe Festival in the Summer of 2013.
Two pieces plunge us into an action-packed pseudo-neo-existentialist epic exploration of creative action and fear, and what it is like to be on the giving and receiving ends of imperfect choices. Human and divine, living and dead will get all mixed up in this mind bending, heartbreaking romp, and then - maybe - the author(s) will die.
Written by Erika Baker and Brian Huther
Directed by Magie Hogan and Sam Slosburg
Featuring Ben Auxier, J. Will Fritz, Hailey Jones and Andy Perkins.
STAGED READINGS
STILLWATER by Nathan Tyson and Joe’s Pet Project
Concert Reading - October 20, 2013
Brooklyn's Nathan Tysen, lyricist for Broadway musicals Tuck Everlasting and Amelie, wrote the libretto for STILLWATER, with music written in collaboration with popular Midwest band Joe's Pet Project. The evening was be directed by the Kansas City Rep's Artistic Director Eric Rosen.
STILLWATER is a rock theatre fusion revolving around a modern-day, drug-fueled trailer park in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Rock, pop, and alt-country combine to tell the story of six unbridled twenty-somethings: a drug dealer, his recovering addict ex-girlfriend, and the neighbor who loves her; plus an indie musician on the brink of stardom, his unfaithful girlfriend, and her desperate one-night stand. As the concert unfolds, the two love-triangles cleverly and catastrophically intersect. STILLWATER is an angst-filled love letter to a generation rebounding from the highs and lows of middle America.
Joe's Pet Project (JPP) is a free-wheelin' musical experiment known for presenting euphoric live shows of diverse originals and eclectic covers. Members are Nathan Tysen (Vocals and Guitar), Ryan McCall (Piano and Vocals), John Hobson (Guitar), Jason Hammond (Bass) and Lance Gilchrist (Drums and Vocals). The Kansas City concert also featured New York City-based Jessica Ryan, Chicago's Trista Smith, and KC actors Jake Walker and Matthew McAndrews.
Columbus Day by Forrest Attaway
November 10 & 11, 2013
Columbus Day is the story of a young woman dealing with abuse in her relationships as well as the abusive nature of society. Her battle for her unborn daughter opens the door to the unpleasant nature of the backwards bureaucracy of the Texas legal system. The play speaks to the inevitable realities of the choices people make to get what they want and the lengths they will go. Past experiences haunt Bree forcing her move forward the only way she knows how.
Worth by Forrest Attaway
November 24 & 25, 2013
Worth explores the ties that bind one working middle class family to an organized crime syndicate headed by the same patriarch. This dark poetic drama follows the lives of ten individuals living and working toward a tragic culmination of events. A play that toys with the adage of “What price would you put on your life” and how “presentation” usually work at one another than with one another.
At the End of Apathy by Bryan Moses
December 1 & 2, 2013
It is the night of September 10, 2001 and lifelong friends Tom and Danny have made a suicide pact that they believe will change world. Through uncertainty, hunger, and the possibility of "a last hook-up" their resolve gets delayed.
Is your show missing from our list? Email us at marketing@thelivingroomkc.com.