Unicorn Theatre & Kansas City Actors Theatre Co-Produce GOD OF CARNAGE
By: Gabrielle Sierra Sep. 21, 2011
After last season's highly successful and critically acclaimed co-production of Conor McPherson's The Seafarer, Unicorn Theatre and Kansas City Actors Theatre join forces again to produce the 2009 Tony Award Winner for Best Play, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton. Also in partnership with UMKC Theatre, this stage version will open October 22nd, just weeks before the movie adaptation, Carnage, hits theaters in December. This wild and visceral play focuses on two couples who meet to have a well-mannered discussion regarding a schoolyard fight between their sons. What results is a hysterical night of tantrums and tears before bedtime-and the kids aren't even there!
This sharp-edged new play is a 90-minute thrill ride that takes you into the most dangerous place on earth: parenthood. God of Carnage ran on Broadway in 2009 and 2010 and rotated some amazing stars through three casts including Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Jimmy Smits, Annie Potts, Dylan Baker, Lucy Lui and Janet McTeer. The Unicorn/KCAT production brings together some of Kansas City's best talent under the direction of Mark Robbins. John Rensenhouse and Melinda McCrary play the Raleighs and real-life husband and wife Brian Paullette and Cinnamon Schultz play the Novaks. God of Carnage previews October 19-21 and runs October 22 - November 13, 2011. Performances Tuesday through Thursday are at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Join us for a talk back immediately after the show with the director, actors on October 25, October 30 and November 1.*Talk-Back Performance with the actors and director
About the PlaywrightYasmina Reza is a French playwright and novelist, based in Paris, whose works have all been multi-award-winning, critical and popular international successes, produced worldwide and translated into 35 languages. Her plays include Conversation After a Burial, The Passage of Winter, ‘Art', The Unexpected Man, Life X 3, A Spanish Play and God of Carnage. Her novels include Hammerklavier, Une Desolation (Desolation), Adam Haberberg, Dans la Luge d'Arthur Schopenhauer, Nulle Part and L'Aube, le Soir ou la Nuit (Dawn, Dusk or Night). Her films include Le Pique-Nique de Lulu Kreutz, directed by Didier Martiny, and Chicas, written and directed by the author.
Director Mark Robbins has worked extensively as an actor and director for both companies. He directed last season's co-production between the two companies, The Seafarer. He's also directed at the Unicorn A House With No Walls, Orson's Shadow, Next of Kin, TopDog/UnderDog, Lobby Hero, Bee-Luther Hatchee and Fully Committed. For KCAT he has directed Translations, Private Lives, Absurd Person Singular and Fifth of July.The cast includes John Rensenhouse as Alan Raleigh (Previously at Unicorn: Ruined and Art; Previously at KCAT: Glengarry Glen Ross and Oh What A Lovely War), Melinda McCrary as Annette Raleigh (Recently at Unicorn: Well, Fuddy Meers, Orson's Shadow and Unidentified Human Remains; Previously at KCAT: The Birthday Party, The Lover, Private Lives, Talley & Son and Fifth of July), Brian Paullette as Michael Novak (Recently at Unicorn: Proof, Lobby Hero and Blue Orange; Previously at KCAT: The Birthday Party, The Collection, Glengarry Glen Ross, Talley Trilogy and Absurd Person Singular) and Cinnamon Schultz as Veronica Novak (Recently at Unicorn: In The Next Room, Mauritius and Orson's Shadow; Previously at KCAT: Marion Bridge, Boston Marriage, Absurd Person Singular, Translations and Talley & Son) The creative team includes Scenic Design by Jordan Jonata (Unicorn and KCAT Debut), Lighting Design by Brandon Clark (Unicorn and KCAT debut; UMKC Theatre Graduate Student), Sound Design by Dan Warneke (previously at the Unicorn: Farragut North and The Seafarer; previously at KCAT: The Pinter Project; UMKC Theatre Graduate Student), Costume Design by Katherine Mott (Unicorn and KCAT Debut; UMKC Theatre Graduate Student), Properties Design by Kristin Yager (previously at the Unicorn: Ruined; KCAT Debut; UMKC Theatre Graduate Student) and is Stage Managed by Jim Mitchell (Previously for Unicorn: The Seafarer; Previously for KCAT: The Pinter Project, Translations, Private Lives, Absurd Person Singular, Talley's Folly).
##About Unicorn Theatre
Founded in 1974, Unicorn Theatre exists to enhance the cultural life of Kansas City by producing professional contemporary, thought-provoking theater, which inspires emotional response and stimulates discussion. Unicorn Theatre is under the artistic and executive leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin, who joined the company in 1980. From a newly expanded home in the Midtown neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, the Unicorn houses two stages--The Mainstage and The Jerome Stage (added 2007). A fully professional not-for-profit theatre, the theatre operates under agreement with Actor's Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The Unicorn is a founding member of the National New Play Network, an alliance of not-for-profit professional theatres that champions the development, production and continued life of new plays for the American theatre; and is a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group, Inc., the national service organization for the not-for-profit professional theatre. Financial assistance for this theatre has been provided by The National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; corporate and foundation gifts; and the generous individuals throughout the community we serve. About Kansas City Actors Theatre
Founded in 2004, KCAT operates under a paradigm radically different from other theatre companies in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area, having been founded and led by practicing theatre artists to present classic and modern classic plays that are integrated, either in true rotating repertory format or over a season. KCAT's vital core company of artists--actors, stage managers, directors & designers from the greater Kansas City community, focus on the craft of the actor and the talents of the playwright, allowing artists to work through the rehearsal process to attain a high quality of performance. Since its inaugural show, The Cripple of Inishmaan, KCAT has been acknowledged by area critics as producing some of the best theater in the metro region.The Actors Theatre performs in locations throughout the city, whether in found spaces such as the recent production of Oh What a Lovely War at the National World War I Museum, or at its "unofficial home" on Union Station's H&R Block City Stage, or in collaboration with friends on the Unicorn Theatre's Jerome Stage. About UMKC Theatre
UMKC Theatre has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top graduate theatre training programs in the country and enjoys the highest national rank of all programs in the University of Missouri System. The program trains a select group of highly talented actors, designers, stage managers and dramaturgs for careers in the performing arts. Graduates from the UMKC program are invited to the most prestigious New York competitions and auditions to exhibit their work and secure positions with national and international performing companies. UMKC Theatre is a founding member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) where it receives Theatre specific accreditation and is also a founding member of the University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA). Faculty and alumni of UMKC Theatre have founded the following theatres in Kansas City: New Theatre Restaurant, Coterie Theatre, American Heartland Theatre, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Kansas City Actors Theatre, Gorilla Theatre, Martin City Melodrama, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and the wonderful Unicorn Theatre.
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