Review: GIRL ON GIRL Opens at Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City

Girl on Girl, 3 Quickies in One Hour, opened Saturday July 19 at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City. The play is part of the Kansas City Fringe Festival, which runs through July 27. Andre Du Broc directs Girl on Girl a Playing Field Production. The show is a compilation of three short plays by three playwrights. Each segment calls on the magnificent talents of actors Shawna Pena-Downing, Davis DeRock, Aishah Harvey, Brianna Marxen-McCollom, and Petey McGee.

Dueling Doulas, written by Cynthia Hardeman is a humorous look at childbirth, traditional and not so traditional. Gillian has approached the final stages of childbirth and has hired a doula, Kingston to assist her through the stages and the birth. Matthew, her husband, has gone along with the doulas unorthodox methods, because that is what Gillian wants. That is he goes along with it until his mother convinces him that such techniques could cause harm to the baby or Gillian. The cast includes Marxen-McCollom as Gillian, Harvey as Mrs. Harris, McGee as Matthew, and DeRock as Kingston.

To Bed, written by Teresa Leggard, is the whimsical tale of fidelity of Grace, a young woman preparing for a date. It was a few minutes before the wonderful concept took hold on me. Everyone has heard or said, "If only . . . could talk!" Well in this case it can and it is Grace's laundry. So to speak, her dirty laundry is put on display, by her laundry. Nikki the Negligee and Gale the Nightgown scrutinize the date. Gale believes that Grace should be more promiscuous and Nikki believes she should hold on to her old time virtues. The cast includes Marxen-McCollom as Nikki the Negligee, Harvey as Gale the Nightgown, Pena-Downing as Grace, and DeRock as Ryan.

Riding Backwards, written by Michelle T. Johnson, sent in a train station Jonelle waits to catch a train to Milwaukee. She is going to the wedding of her ex-boyfriend Frankie. At the station, she meets Danny a young man waiting for a ride, who shows interest in her. When he leaves, she strikes up a conversation with Clara, an old woman waiting for a train, who gives her insight into her present situation. When Clara leaves for her train Lana approaches her and begins to counsel her on her pending trip. Lana is a psychologist for suspended police officers, and engrosses her in a conversation that may change her life forever. Riding Backwards is very well conceived and thought provoking. The cast includes Pena-Downing as Jonelle, DeRock as Danny, Harvey as Clara, Marxen-McCollom as Lana, and McGee as Frankie. Harvey was particularly wonderful in her portrayal of Clara the elderly passenger.

The KC Fringe Festival continues through July 27; check their calendar for future performances of Girl on Girl, 3 Quickies in One Hour. Photo courtesy of Just Off Broadway Theatre.