2008-2009 Academic Year

Aug. 15- 31: Kansas City Actors Theater presents Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood.  City Stage at Union Station.  http://www.kcactors.org

Aug. 20, 21, 26, 30, 31: final dates for the Kansas City Actors Theater's production of noted Irish playwright Brian Friel's Translations.  City Stage at Union Station.  http://www.kcactors.org

Aug. 29-30: Irish poet Gearoid MacLochlainn will read at the Kansas City Irish Festival, Heritage Workshop Stage, Crown Center, 6-6:50 Friday and 2-2:50 Saturday.  (Festival admission $10/day.)  MacLochlainn will also read at The Writer's Place (3607 Pennsylvania) at 8 pm on the 29th. 

Sept. 5 - Oct. 5: Rising Water (by John Biguenet) at the Unicorn Theatre (3828 Main).  For details:  http://www.unicorntheatre.org/

Sept. 10: Short story writer, medical doctor, and Iowa Writers Workshop faculty member Ethan Canin will read at the Kansas City Public Library (14 W. 10th St.), 7 pm. 

Sept. 12-21: KC Actors Theater presents A Lesson from Aloes by Athol Fugard.  Off-Center Theater at Crown Center Shops. http://www.kcactors.org

Sept. 12: Writing workshop (fiction, poetry, non-fiction) conducted by author Robert Day at The Writer's Place (3607 Pennsylvania), time TBA.  For information, call 816-753-1090. 

Sept. 13:  Robert Day, author of The Last Cattle Drive, appears with the KC Symphony String Quartet at The Writer's Place (3607 Penn.) , 6 pm.  For information, call 816-753-1090. 

Sept. 15: Submission deadline for entrants in the Plays-in-Progress Workshop Contest.  To enter, send a copy of your MS (35-110 pages in length) to Dr. Charles Kovich, English Department, Rockhurst University, 1100 Rockhurst Road, Kansas City, MO  64110.  The Workshop was created to give playwrights an opportunity to witness a reading of their play.  The winning play will be performed on Oct. 29 (see below), and its playwright will receive a $250 prize. 

Oct. 2, 4, 5: RU Theatre - An American Daughter by Wendy Wasserstein, Mabee Theater.  Oct. 2 @ 8 pm; Oct. 4 & 5 @ 2 pm.  Call 816-501-4040 for more information. 

Oct. 17 - Nov. 9 :  KC Repertory Theatre presents Radio Golf by August Wilson.  Spencer Theatre.  For further details:  http://www.kcrep.org

Oct. 17 - Nov. 9 :  Mauritius (by Theresa Rebeck) at the Unicorn Theatre (3828 Main).  For details: http://www.unicorntheatre.org/

Oct. 23 :  RU's Midwest Poets Series - U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic presents a reading and discussion of his work.  Mabee Theater, 6:30 pm.  $5 (or $3 for students/seniors). 

Oct. 27 :  Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon speaks on "Conquering the Wilderness:  Imaginative Imperialism and the Invasion of Legoland," at Kansas Union Ballroom, University of Kansas, Lawrence.  7:30 pm, free.  (Michael Chabon's brother is RU English alumnus Daniel Chabon.) 

Oct. 28 :  Michael Chabon in conversation at the University of Kansas, Hall Center Conference Hall (900 Sunnyside, Lawrence), 10-11:30 am, free. 

Oct. 29: Plays-in-Progress Workshop.  (New works presented in concert readings.)  Sedgwick Hall, Room 115 @ 7:30 pm. 

Nov. 13-16: RU Theatre - The Wiz, Mabee Theater.  Nov. 13-14 @ 8 pm; Nov. 15-16 @ 2 pm.  Call 816-501-4040 for more information. 

Nov. 20: RU's Midwest Poets Series - reading by Mia Leonin, winner of the Van Brock Poetry Award for her latest book, Unraveling the Bed.  Mabee Theater, 6:30 pm.  $5 (or $3 for students/seniors). 

Dec. 4: Holy Cow Improvisational Theatre, Mabee Theater.  Free. 

Jan. 9 - Feb. 15: KC Repertory Theatre presents The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.  Copaken Stage.  For further details:  http://www.kcrep.org

Jan. 15: Deadline for submissions to The Rockhurst Review.  Send original, unpublished poems, essays, short fiction, drama, and artwork to The Rockhurst Review, Dr. Patricia Cleary Miller, English Department, Rockhurst University, 1100 Rockhurst Road, Kansas City, MO  64110.  Manuscripts will not be returned.  For further details about guidelines, contact Dr. Miller. 

Jan. 30 - Feb. 22: KC Repertory Theatre presents The Arabian Nights.  Spencer Theatre.  For further details:  http://www.kcrep.org

Feb. 5: RU's Midwest Poets Series - reading by Debra Marquart , winner of 2007 PEN USA Award.  Mabee Theater, 6:30 pm.  $5 (or $3 for students/seniors). 

Feb. 26-Mar.1: RU Theatre - The Busy Body by Susanna Centlivre, Mabee Theater.  Feb. 26-27 @ 8 pm; Feb. 28 & Mar. 1 @ 2 pm.  Call 816-501-4040 for more information. 

Mar. 13 - April 5: KC Repertory Theatre presents Winesburg, Ohio (a new musical version) .  Spencer Theatre.  For further details:  http://www.kcrep.org

April 15-16: Theatreworks (student written, directed, produced). Mabee Theater, 8 pm, free. 

April 16: Reading/talk by Sandra Cisneros, in celebration of the 25th anniversary edition of The House on Mango Street.  Latino Writers Collective's Tercera Pagina Reading Series.  KC Central Library (14 W. 10th St.), 6:30 pm. 

April 23: RU's Midwest Poets Series - reading by B.H. Fairchild. Mabee Theater, 6:30 pm.  $5 (or $3 for students/seniors). 

April 29 : Holy Cow Improvisational Theatre, Mabee Theater.  Free.