HAND TO GOD, ECLIPSED & More Set for Unicorn Theatre's 2016-17 Season

Unicorn Theatre, under the artistic leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin, announces the 43rd season of thought-provoking new plays. The new season will open September 7, 2016 and include eight regular season shows. Subscriptions for the new season are on sale now. In addition to a full line up of new productions to Kansas City, the Unicorn will also continue the In-Progress New Play Reading Series, bringing scripts in development and under consideration for production in upcoming seasons before the public. More details on the season will follow this summer.

Hand to God
By Robert Askins
September 7 - October 2, 2016
On the Levin Stage

Hand to God is a biting comedy fresh from Broadway. After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and-most especially-his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason's puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. Hand to God explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.

The Way We Get By
By Neil LaBute
October 19 - November 13, 2016
On the Jerome Stage

Love, lust and the rules of attraction have never been more complicated. Meet Beth and Doug, two people who have no problems getting dates with their partners of choice. After a drunken party and a hot night, they wake up to a blurry morning where the weight of their actions looms over them before their first cup of coffee. It's very awkward-and it also leads the pair to ponder how much they really care about what other people think.

An Octoroon
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
A Co-Production with UMKC Theatre
November 30 - December 26, 2016
On the Levin Stage

An Octoroon is a comic retelling of slavery in America from a provocative young playwright. Judge Peyton is dead and his plantation Terrebonne is in financial ruins. Peyton's handsome nephew George arrives as heir apparent and quickly falls in love with Zoe, a beautiful octoroon. But the evil overseer M'Closky has other plans-for both Terrebonne and Zoe. In 1859, a famous Irishman wrote this play about slavery in America. Now an American tries to write his own.

Application Pending
By Greg Edwards & Andy Sandberg
December 7 - 26, 2016
On the Jerome Stage

Application Pending is a new one-woman comedy about the cutthroat world of kindergarten admissions at a New York private school. One actress portrays rookie admissions officer Christine and over forty other roles, including all the wild personalities that she has to deal with on her first day on the job.With phones ringing off the hook, Christine must balance beleaguered applicants, venal administrators, and an army of parents who will stop at nothing to get their kids in.

How to Use a Knife
By Will Snider
World Premiere
January 25 - February 19, 2017
On the Levin Stage

It isn't easy taking control of a busy restaurant kitchen in New York, but this may be Chef George's last shot to stay sober and turn his life around. Between joking with two Guatemalan line cooks and dealing with an entitled busboy, George forges an unlikely friendship with quiet, unassuming East African dishwasher, Steve. As the two grow closer, George discovers the horrific circumstances of Steve's life in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide. Trust is tested and good and evil become murky as George learns he holds more than his own life in his hands.

Eclipsed
By Danai Gurira
March 8 - April 2, 2017
On the Jerome Stage

Still on Broadway, making history as the first Broadway play ever written by, directed by and starring all women, Eclipsed tells the story of five extraordinary women brought together by the upheaval of civil war in their homeland of Liberia. Four of these women are held captive as wives of a rebel commanding officer, and though they have lost much, this is a stirring tale of hope, humor and resilience from award-winning playwright Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne on AMC's "The Walking Dead."

I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard
By Halley Feiffer
April 19 - May 14, 2017
On the Jerome Stage

Ella is a precocious and fiercely competitive actress whose sole aim in life is making her famous playwright father David proud. Over the course of a boozy evening, Ella and David deliberate over whether to read the reviews of her Off-Broadway debut...and things unravel from there. Halley Feiffer's dark, probing and very funny new play pulls the audience into the middle of a deeply complicated relationship and sheds new light on the eternal struggles of parents and children to find common ground.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical
By Stephan Elliott & Allan Scott
May 31 - June 25, 2017
On the Levin Stage

The heartwarming international sensation, based on the hit movie, Priscilla is an uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they had ever dreamed of. With a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and a hit parade of dancefloor favorites, this wildly fresh and funny musical is a journey to the heart of fabulous!

Season Subscriptions are now on sale. Call 816-531-7529 EXT. 10, go online at www.UnicornTheatre.org or buy in person at the box office located at 3828 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64111.

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