Review: ALPHABET SOUP STORIES FROM QUEER VOICES at the Squeezebox Theatre in Kansas City

The fourth annual ALPHABET SOUP STORIES FROM QUEER VOICES opened Friday, April 12, at the Squeezebox Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri to a full house. The short play showcase produced by Whim Productions runs through April 20 at the small intimate theater. The showcase features seven plays all written by members of the LGBTQ community, exploring aspects of the homosexual lifestyle.

Kevin King, Founder and Producing Artistic Manager, stated the plays are submitted for consideration and if selected the writers enter into a workshop conducted by King. The workshops, which lasted up to one and a half months, were designed to continually tweak the plays until they reached production quality. King went on to say that two of the writers, B. Michael Mcfarland, and Adam Yarbrough, had never written a play before. To submit a play for consideration for the next Alphabet Soup go to www.whimproductions.com/submissions.

STRETCH, written by Mark Mattison and directed by Ile Haggins, is a very humorous look at a mother and her son during a workout session. The mother has taken this opportunity to tell her homosexual son that she is moving to the Caribbean and he will have to start taking care of himself. The mother, Fannie, is played by Alli Irvin and the son, Raul, is played by Seto Herrera. Both actors do a wonderful job portraying their characters.

IN CONFIDENCE, written by Yarbrough and directed by Kevin King, is a dramatic look at a university study group being headed by Davis Grinter, played by Terraye Watson. Grinter conducts the first counseling with Eric, played by Tony Sloan, to discover more about his lifestyle and how he is handling it on campus. After the session Grinter is confronted by Dr. Winchell, played by Karla Fennick, who is concerned that one of her students has been accepted into a teaching position, and she feels it is inappropriate for him to take it due to his sexual preference. The piece is the most dramatic of the evening's offerings and Fennick gives a powerful performance as Dr. Winchell.

NOTHING WITHOUT ME, written by Isabella Tate and directed by Melissa Trierweiler, is the other dramatic production of the evening. It is the tale of Charlotte and Mitchell who live together and are preparing to meet friends. Charlotte, played by J. Leigh Dolan wants to tell their friends that she and Mitchell are living together. Mitchell, played by Mitchell Flottman, is adamantly against revealing that information. The ending is somewhat predictable but is an entertaining short play.

BITE MARKS, written by Emily Swenson and directed by Mackenzie Goodwin, is one of the more humorous plays presented in the showcase. Maggie (Nicole Hall), Michael (Austin Taylor Smith), Lexi (Casey Jane), and Jobe (Vincent Wagner) are lovers who play out and navigate polyamory. Swenson has written a play that is not only extremely humorous but also sexy. Hall is fabulous as Maggie and gives the best performance of the evening.

NAH, MAN. TOTALLY., written by Kevin King and directed by Paul Hough, provides the most humor of the evening's contributions. Austin Taylor Smith plays Cory and Kyle Tichenor plays his friend Dylan. The two are enthralled in an evening of Mortal Kombat when Dylan surprises Cory with the news that he is gay. Cory tries to debunk his announcement even going as far as saying Dylan could only be bisexual because he has had girlfriends in the past. The extreme belly laughs and the final acceptance by Cory of his friend's lifestyle is what makes this a fabulous piece. If only everyone could be that open minded.

THE GREAT DEFAGGING, written by B. Michael McFarland and directed by Vincent Wagner, is the dark humor story of Longbottom and Graham two friends who have met at an apartment of a friend who has died. Their intention is to remove any and all items that would lead the dead man's mother to discover his gay lifestyle. Ricky Farrell does a good job as Longbottom and Stephen C. Howard plays Graham.

LESBIANS DEFINITELY NOT LOST IN SPACE, written by Diane Hightower and directed by Andi Meyer, is a humorous farce of outer space shows and movies. The earth has been destroyed and a group of ships is in space looking for a new planet to occupy. Stephanie A. Spalding plays Commander Imma Muncher, who is responsible for a ship of lesbians who must choose whether to retrieve a shipment of kittens or a shipment of dildos that have broken away from the ship. Diana Watts plays Dr. Vulva, Makenzie Watterson plays Sulli, Kate R. Tot plays Whits, and Kyle Tichenor plays Munchers husband.

Due to subject matter and nudity ALPHABET SOUP is recommended for audiences 17 and older. To purchase tickets online go to www.whimproductions.com.

Photo credit for BITE MARKS: Emily Swenson

Photo credit for NAH, MAN. TOTALLY.: Kevin King