After a two-year, pandemic-caused hiatus, the Kansas City Actors Theatre (KCAT) will be lifting the curtain once again with a full lineup of productions for its 18th Season in 2022-23.
“With Season 18, we are trying to capture the enthusiasm and excitement of a return to live performances and build on that with a new attitude toward play selection born out of the pandemic and the social-equity movement,” says John Rensenhouse, local actor, director, and KCAT’s artistic chair. “We have picked projects that, hopefully, will have people eager to go out and see some theater again and then once there, see something that will spark new thoughts.”
The 2019-2020 season was KCAT’s last full season and ended right as the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. The “curtains” remained closed through what would have been the 2020-21 season. Over the time that would have been the 2021-22 season, KCAT has booked two productions.
KCAT’s upcoming season will include five full productions and features a combination of new and returning artists.
“I am particularly excited about the great diversity of our new Season 18. Collectively this season’s plays form an extraordinary patchwork that examines the human experience from wildly different perspectives,” says Gary Heisserer, KCAT board president. “Some of these plays are very funny, some are very sad, and some are both. Consistent with KCAT’s mission, they all feature roles that will showcase the wonderful artistry of Kansas City’s finest actors.”
The line-up includes:
The Price, May 25 – June 12, 2022
Brothers Victor and Walter Franz, who haven’t spoken to each other in over a decade, reunite to sell the belongings of their late father. With Walter nowhere to be seen, Victor is left to haggle over prices with the octogenarian antique furniture dealer Gregory Solomon. Memories are dragged up and Victor is confronted with the story of his life, and the price we put on family, security, and life itself.
Spider’s Web, July 13 – 31, 2022
KCAT returns to the wonderful and mysterious world of Agatha Christie for the third time. Spider’s Web is as suspenseful as it is amusing. Clarissa, the wife of a diplomat, is known for her drama-filled stories, but when a murder takes place in her drawing-room, she finds real drama much harder to negotiate, and she has the work cut out for her in unmasking her killer.
About Alice, August 10 – 28, 2022
Calvin Trillin is a writer known for his over 400 pieces published in The New Yorker, but he is also a humorist, novelist, cookbook author, and memoirist. In his 2006 memoir, About Alice, Calvin Trillin details the life of his late wife, Alice, and the idiosyncrasies that made her who she is. Written five years after Alice’s death, the production explores the daily experience of loving, being loved by, and ultimately losing a loved one.
Dot, September 7 – 25, 2022
Dot chronicles a family dealing with the matriarch’s recent diagnosis with Alzheimer’s, leaving the family to balance caring for themselves while also caring for their mother. Dot is twisted and hilarious, while tackling tough issues like aging parents, midlife crises, and the West Philadelphia neighborhood in which it is set with warmth, humor, and wit. Dot is filled with diverse characters who are complex, compelling, and richly rendered.
Smart People, January 11 – 29, 2023
One of the newest works ever produced at KCAT, Smart People by Lydia Diamond asks the audience tough questions with intelligence and wit. Are our prejudices inherent or are they learned traits? Who is allowed to discuss the affects, the effects, and the existence of race? And how do our backgrounds influence the way we approach these conversations? On the eve of the 2008 election, four highly educated Cambridge residents find that race is still a tough subject to broach, filled with stumbles and wrong turns.
Season subscriptions are available now at http://www.kcactors.org/season-18/. Early bird pricing on subscriptions is available until January 9, and allows unlimited rescheduling of tickets, first-chance invitations to special events, and more.