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




816-784-5020

STORM STORIES
A Kansas City Premier
by Playwright Judi - Ann Mason, In Collaboration With BJ Mason
June 6 - 14, 2008

A play, comprised of first hand accounts, by the victims of Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, LA.   
Presented by inPlay, Inc.
Directed by Jacqee Gafford
and Penelope Weiner  

About the Playwrights

Judi Ann Mason writes for stage, screen, and television.  She won the Norman Lear Award for comedy writing from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while still attending Grambling State University.  The next year, she won the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting award for A Star Ain't Nothin' But A Hole In Heaven.  Ms Mason's television credits include:  Good Times, Sanford and Son, A Different World, Beverly Hill 90210, I'll Fly Away, American Gothic, Generations and Guiding Light.  She also wrote Sister Act: Back in the Habit, and the Emmy Award/Cable Ace Award nominated  Sophie and the Moonhanger.   InPlay has presented her work in productions of  My Monkee Don't Drink Hot Chocolate and Daughters of the Mock.

BJ Mason was a renaissance man.  For several years, he was a busy actor.  He appeared in such television classics as The Mod Squad; Love, American Style; and Mannix.  He also had a featured role as Roosevelt Berry in the Paul Newman film WUSA.  Later, Mr. Mason changed professional gears and became a respected writer, eventually becoming an associate editor for Ebony Magazine.  Dedicated to social justice, he joined the NAACP and became president of its Shreveport chapter in Louisiana.  According to Judi Ann Mason, B J had just completed his novel, Walk on Water before his premature death

About the Play

As the playwright, Judi Ann Mason, relates, STORM STORIES began as an attempt to dramatize the experiences of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.  The hurricane and its aftermath was already a personal event for her, because Louisiana is Ms Mason's birthplace, and the spiritual home whose rhythms and cadences nurtured her talent.  The urgency to capture these compelling stories deepened for her upon the death of her brother.   Employing her own remarkable skills, and incorporating many of BJ Mason's emails, notes, and outlines, she has fashioned a play of remarkable power.   

STORM STORIES is not a naturalistic play.  Instead, it is an evocative portrayal of the victims of Katrina in New Orleans.  Through a collection of monologues and scenes, the wrenching experiences of the forgotten, the marginalized, the privileged, the brave, the resilient, and the lost, seep into the heart of the audience as relentlessly as the Louisiana flood waters.  The play is also a stark indictment of the government foul-ups and indifference that compounded the tragedy.  We are also shamefully reminded that many New Orleans residents, dispersed across the United States, wait for the promised rebuilding of one of our great American cities.

The Play contains some language and mature situations.  This play is suggested for mature audiences.

STORM STORIES opens Friday, June 6th, and runs through Saturday, June 14th at Just Off Broadway Theatre, located at 3051 Central, in Kansas City, Missouri.  Directed by Jacqee Gafford and Penelope Weiner, this InPlay production is produced in conjunction with the Just Off Broadway Theatre Association.   

For substantial savings, patrons may purchase advance tickets through the Central Ticket Office, located in the Performing Arts Center on the UMKC Campus, 4949 Cherry, or by calling (816) 235-6222.   
All tickets at the door are $20.00.

Performance Dates

Friday, June 6 - 8 pm (opening night)
Saturday, June 7 - 8 pm
Sunday, June 8 - 3 pm (Meet the Playwright)
Monday, June 9 - 8 pm (Meet the Playwright)
Thursday, June 12 - 8 pm
Friday, June 13 - 8 pm
Saturday, June 14 - 8 pm  (closing date)

Diverse. Original. Classic. Your story. Our mission.

About the Directors

Jacqueline L. Gafford is a playwright, director, actor, Just Off Broadway Theatre Association Board Member, and InPlay's Artistic Director.  Her plays include Nothing Comes to Sleepers and Harlem Knights.  She has collaborated with fellow playwright, Gene Mackey of Theatre for Young America on Journey with Barbara Jordan, and Africa's Daughters.  Directing credits include Crowns, Betrayal Of The Black Jesus, Harlem Knights, Nothing Comes to Sleepers, My Monkey Don't Drink Hot Chocolate, A Raisin In The Sun, Donny's House, and In The Footsteps Of Freedom With Harriet Tubman. As an actress, Jacqee has appeared on stage in plays such as Having Our Say, The Old Settler, Flyin' West, In The Sunlight of Athens, Intimate Apparel, and most recently, Journey With Barbara Jordan for InPlay.  Theaters she has performed for include Theatre for Young America, the Unicorn, New Directions Theatre, and InPlay.   She has been a guest artist at Theatre for Young America, UMKC's Actor Conservatory program, Rockhurst College, and Lawrence Community Theatre.

Penelope Weiner is an Assistant Professor at Washburn University in Topeka, KS, where she teaches Directing and Playwriting.  Penny earned her Master of Fine Arts in Directing at UMKC.  InPlay had the honor of premiering one of this award winning playwright's dramatic efforts, when it produced Fallout in September of 2004.  She also directed the production.