3051 Central in Penn Valley Park  •   P.O. Box 411653, Kansas City, MO 64141




816-784-5020

unless otherwise noted. Donations and feedback are encouraged. The festival is sponsored by a generous grant from the Missouri Arts Council and is produced by the Just Off Broadway Theatre Association in partnership with the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre and the Writer's Place. For  more information, contact Bryan Colley at bcolley@kc.rr.com or (816) - 941 - 3875.

7:00pm - Monday, August 29   The Lives of the Saints by Kathleen Vinlove
A woman finds success and happiness in housecleaning in this satirical comedy about the search for meaning in life. Vinlove's first play, The Dove Gifts, was produced in 1981 as a Missouri Repertory Theatre showcase production. She then moved east to pursue an M.F.A. in creative writing at the University of Massachusetts, completing her degree at the University of Miami where she taught writing and published several poems. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from Kansas State University and has since worked in the public and private sectors and academia as an economist. Lives of the Saints marks her joyful return to creative writing. The cast includes Stephanie Kelman and Carol Leighton.

7:00pm - Tuesday, August 30   Sleeping Dog by Christopher Lawrence Whelan
A philosophical tragedy about a wealthy family's downfall when the truth catches up with them. Whelan is a graduate student at UMKC and began writing Sleeping Dog in Dr. Felicia Londre's playwriting course. The play was awarded second place in the Masque of Temple Terrace National Playwriting Contest in Florida. The cast includes Claudia Copping, Ari Bavel, Ann-Marie Jackson, Bryan Colley, and Alan Tilson.

7:00pm - Wednesday, August 31   The Featured Extra by Stephen Kibler and Parry Luellen
Slackers meet celebrities when a film production rolls into town and three young loafers crash the set to steal movie memorabilia. Parry Luellen and Stephen Kibler have been collaborating on plays for over a decade. Two of their plays, The Tightrope and Zoinks!, were produced at the Westport Coffee House. Luellen has performed with many theaters including Theater for Young America and The New Theatre Restaurant. Kibler is a high school English teacher in Maryville, MO where he lives with his wife and daughter. The cast includes Curtis Smith, Charles Kephart, Jill Puffer, Gayle Grooms, Adam Davidson, and Erika Theissen.

7:00pm - Thursday, September 1   Letting Go by Bill Nelson
A high school student assigned to interview a war veteran discovers an unexpected relationship in this one act play. Playwright/producer Bill Nelson is head of Burning Moon Productions, a theatre group dedicated to staging works about the lives of gay men and women and the people in their lives. Productions he's written under this umbrella include Tales from Gaydom, Tales from Gaydom 2, and Mishappenance. For Imagination Studio he wrote for the serial, Welcome to Paradise. He's also penned scripts for productions by the Heartland Men's Chorus, Kansas City's gay men's chorus. This is Nelson's second year with the Playwrights Festival. The cast includes Marcus Cain.

7:00pm - Friday, September 2   Choice by Dean Bevan
A family is torn with controversy and conflict by a teenage daughter's budding interest in Catholicism. Bevan is a Lawrence playwright and actor. Four of his plays have been performed in the past three years, and a fifth is scheduled for production by E.M.U. Theatre during this year's season. His one-act play Haunted won the Rockhurst Plays-in-Progress Workshop competition in 2002. He has also written two screenplays, and acted in numerous production at the University of Kansas, Lawrence Community Theatre, and E.M.U. Theatre. Bevan will be bringing his cast from Lawrence, KS for the reading.

3:00pm - Saturday, September 3   Postcard from Hohumbia by Shari and David Crespy
An afternoon of sketch comedy about the menace and mysteries of small town Missouri life and politics in a typical college town, Hohumbia. The show includes a leprechaun mayor, a homicidal funeral home director, and a driving school for the criminally insane. David Crespy is a theatre professor from the University of Missouri in Columbia and author of The Jewish Dating Cycle. The cast will be coming from Columbia, MO.

7:00pm - Saturday, September 3   The Lad Sketches by Lania Knight
An edgy comedy about a gay youth, a free-spirited boyfriend, and a pair of well-meaning parents that takes place in a college town pizza joint. Amid the chaos of flying pizzas and shouted orders, they are each confronted with the often delicate but sometimes hilarious struggles of love, sex, and family relationships. Knight is from Columbia, MO and is a student of David Crespy. The cast will be coming from Columbia, MO.

7:30pm - Saturday, September 3   Alabaster City by Stuart Spencer - (At the Writer's Place)
This reading of a new play by Stuart Spencer will be held at the Writer's Place, 3607 Pennsylvania. Stuart Spencer, author of The Playwright's Guidebook, is also teaching a playwriting intensive over the weekend. The reading is being produced by the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
(www.metroensemble.org). A $5.00 donation is suggested.

7:00pm  - Sunday, September 4   Snapshots at the Just Off Broadway Theatre
Fresh from the playwright's pen, new works from a weekend playwriting intensive by Stuart Spencer's will be given a public reading. Featuring short plays by Lucy, Brennan, Bill Clause, Marti Demoss, Joshua Hartnett, Harold Keairnes, Frankie Krainz, Jansen Lalich, Jeanne Marshall, Tucker Marshall, David Rush, Martin Weber, and Alex Yalen. Casual reception honoring the playwrights to follow.

Local Playwrights Festival
A full week of play readings...
August 29 - September 4