Kansas City Actors Theatre Announces Virtual Dramatic Reading Of Moliére's THE PESTS

On March 7th Kansas City Actors Theatre will present a free, live, online dramatic reading of Moliére's "The Pests," newly translated and adapted from "Les Fâcheux" by UMKC Professor Dr. Felicia Londré. This dramatic reading will be presented in partnership with "KC MOliére: 400 in 2022" to help raise funds and awareness for the multi-year celebration of the seminal French playwright in anticipation of his 400th birthday in January of 2022.

In his 1661 comedy, "Les Fâcheux," Moliére dared to mock some of the hangers-on at the court of Louis XIV. The resulting play pleased the king so much that he granted the use of the Palais Royal Theatre in Paris and often requested repeat performances. "The Sun King" even suggested an additional type of pest, to which Moliére obliged with a new character. The surprise of this airy little garden-set trifle is how some stereotypes still ring true 360 years later!

This performance is part of "KC MOliére: 400 in 2022," a celebration of the 17th Century French playwright and actor, Moliére, who is widely-regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of all time. Corresponding with what will be his 400th birthday in 2022, this multi-year celebration of all aspects of Moliére's talents will include many of Kansas City's major professional creative institutions across a variety of disciplines. Virtually every one of Kansas City's dozen professional theatre companies is committed to presenting a play by Moliére or one inspired by his work. More information on the ongoing celebration is available at www.kcmoliere400in2022.com.

"I'm excited for KCAT to help out the KC MOliére project," says John Rensenhouse, Director of the reading and Kansas City Actors Theatre Artistic Committee Chair. "The '400 in 2022' celebration has great potential to bring acclaim and recognition to our city. And to be doing a translation by local professor, Dr. Felicia Londre, is a treat because she is such a treasure in this town and she's done an incredible job of bringing this funny and timely piece to life. The Pests, indeed! We've got a lot of them running around these days."

This event will be open and free to the public online. Kansas City Actors Theatre encourages donations to the "KC MOliére: 400 in 2020" event, which can be made in a variety of ways, a summary of which can be found at their website: https://www.kcmoliere400in2022.com/donate.html

The virtual dramatic reading will feature Kansas City actors Matt Schwader, Sam Cordes, Bri Woods, Vi Tran, Matt Williamson, RH Wilhoit, Meredith Wolfe, Ashley Pankow, Coleman Crenshaw, Robert Gibby Brand, Josh Gleeson, Chris Roady, Walter Coppage, Greg Butell, and Trevor French. The production will be directed by John Rensenhouse with Technical Management and Production by Matt Sameck.

This live dramatic reading of "The Pests" will be performed on Sunday, March 7th at 5 pm online in a livestream available on the Kansas City Actors Theatre YouTube page (stream link: https://youtu.be/NMmruDDx3V0), and will remain online through March 11th. An event page will be posted soon on the KCAT website, www.kcactors.org.