Funnyhouse of a Negro at KC Melting Pot Theatre

KCMPT presents a revival of Adrienne Kennedys 1964 Obie Award-winning play Funnyhouse of a Negro at Just Off Broadway Theater May 3rd - May 18th. Directed by Nicole Hodges Persley, Kennedys Funnyhouse of a Negro is an avant-garde one-act drama about a young African American college student named Negro Sarah who desperately wishes that she was white. The story focuses on Sarah, a young hip graduate of City College who is obsessed with whiteness. We see inside Sarahs reality in her one-room apartment in New Yorks Greenwich Village where talks to her multiple selves who are famous people of history including Jesus, The Duchess of Hapsburg, Queen Victoria, and Patrice Lumumba. As Sarahs mind twists and turns between reality and fantasy, the audience walks through the funnyhouse of her mind to experience her violent rejection of her blackness and a toxic engagement with whiteness that leads to a point of no return in this captivating one act. Kennedys fantastical play explores the psychological trauma of race and identity in America that is amazingly salient today over 50 years after Kennedys Obie award for this work. Funnyhouse of a Negro has become one of the most studied of Adrienne Kennedy plays. The show is rarely performed due to the extraordinary demands of the staging and the text. Local audiences will have the rare opportunity to experience the shows premier in Kansas City. Performance Dates/Times:Friday, May 3 at 7:30 pm - OpeningSaturday, May 4 at 7:30 pmSunday, May 5 at 2:00 pm Talk Back following performanceThursday, May 9 at 7:30 pm Talk Back following performanceFriday, May 10 at 7:30 pmSaturday, May 11 at 2:00 pm - Talk Back following performanceSaturday, May 11 at 7:30 pmThursday, May 16 at 7:30 pm Talk Back following performanceFriday, May 17 at 7:30 pmSaturday, May 18 at 7:30 pm - Closinghttp://www.kcmeltingpot.com/