@dramatistsguild @hartplaywright

The issue of gender parity in the theater, and celebrating more female writers, continues to be on my mind. This month I would like to celebrate a very special playwright from this region. Lezlie Revelle is an incredibly talented female in the Kansas City area who lives to do so much more than simply write for the stage. You can learn more about Lezlie by following her website at lezlierevelle.com. This playwright and composer is intentional about influencing others through the dramatic arts and making a difference in her community. As an artist in residence at Olathe (Kansas) Northwest High School, she teaches advanced repertory theatre students the playwriting craft and play production process. She combines her musical talent and playwriting skills to produce sacred dramas for her synagogue. She helps other women playwrights discover a venue for their work as a contributing producer for Potluck Productions. She’s also a musician, and performs in coffee houses and venues where people gather for the sake of the arts. All of this comes second to working a full time job outside of the dramatic arts.

Lezlie’s work as a playwright was kick-started with Potluck Productions, a Kansas City area theatrical group that showcases scripts by women playwrights from Kansas and Missouri through professional readings, staged productions, and a bi-monthly First Friday Play Reading Series. (facebook.com/potluckproductionskc or www.potluckproductionskc.com) Lezlie recalls, “They were doing fully staged short play festivals at the time. My play Death’s Dance Card was selected for production in 2006.” Revelle is now one of Potluck’s five producers, which includes regional Guild members Glendora Davis and Nancy Parks.

“I stay connected to Potluck because I believe in what we do and because it gives me an ongoing venue for growing my creativity. The unique music and theatre collaboration has been an amazing inspiration.” Revelle is referring to her contributions not only as a playwright, but also as a composer and musician. She composed original music for the company’s 2014 KC Fringe Festival, performed live music between sets at this year’s KC Fringe Festival, and designs live music features for the company’s reading series. “I live life with a head and heart full of voices. Each voice has a story. Some of those stories are best told through song, some through prose, and some on stage.” Lezlie believes stories are one of the most important things we have. She continues, “The stories and characters that come to me each have their own voice and each needs a different conveyance. I’m just the chauffer, really… Showing up and doing my best to choose the proper vehicle to get them where they need to go.”

Revelle’s done well at transporting her work so far. She has had three plays produced on the coasts. In 2013 in New York, Black Ice was included in the Midtown International Theatre Festival; New Chili won best of show at the April Short Play Lab. The year before, Broken Down House played at San Diego’s North Park Vaudeville’s Tenth Annual Play Festival. The aforementioned Black Ice includes a song Revelle composed and published on her first of three albums released on the Enneagram Records label. (Did I mention she is also a recording artist?) She has composed music for two more of her full-length plays, and is writing musicals. “I would love to see my musical work on stage—both as a solo composition and as part of a collaborative venture. I am simply looking for the opportunities.”

“The performance arts are collaborative—especially theatre. That collaborative aspect can be terrifying, crazy and frustrating. But it has taught me patience and humility, it has made me a better creator and executor of all my art forms, and it keeps me from becoming too insular.” Lezlie has claimed if she’s not creating, she dies a little every day. “I am my best self when I am creating and sharing. So I must create.”

hwright@dramatistsguild.com

Lezlie Revelle