@dramatistsguild @hartplaywright

It is amazing how well our regional Guild members shone in the fringe of summer. It might not seem too noteworthy, considering more than twenty fringe festivals take place in seventeen states in America every year. What seems remarkable, however—after realizing Missouri is one of only three states producing multiple fringes—is taking note of how much national success has resulted for many of our local dramatists. With fringe festivals held in both St. Louis (StLou Fringe, in June) and Kansas City (KC Fringe, in July), and each venue welcoming acclaimed writers from both coasts, I believe our Guild’s local talent of playwrights and composers seem to garner more than a measurable amount of praise.

Established playwright Vicki Vodrey must love the KC Fringe Festival and the success this festival has birthed in her career. Her dark comedy, Hanky Panky, one of the top-rated and most popular plays here in 2010, was later performed at the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF), receiving nominations for three MITF awards in the process. Vodrey’s Thank You Notes: Headed to Heaven with Flat Jimmy Fallon became a KC Fringe standout in 2012, encored at the 2012 MITF, and was a finalist for inclusion in this year’s MITF lineup. This year Vodrey, one of five inaugural playwrights at the new Midwest Dramatists Center, debuted her newest play entitled, A Hard Day’s Night. It just might be her next ticket to ride.

Girl on Girl was a creative and zesty performance at this year’s KC Fringe, a trio of plays that included the newest work by playwright Michelle T. Johnson. During the 2012 Fringe campaign, her one act play, As the Guiding Light Turns, was a noteworthy, standout. In 2013, another one act play, Wiccans in the ‘Hood was not only popular at the KC Fringe, but performed also at New York’s Midwinter Madness Short Play Festival. Earlier this year Philadelphia’s BrainSpunk Theater produced an evening of Johnson’s work, presenting the playful and uplifting Wiccans with her much more existential and dreamlike one-act, Trading Races: From Rodney King to Paula Deen—a play nominated for three separate New York’s Connections Theatre Festivity Awards. Johnson, who is also an inaugural playwright of the Midwest Dramatists Center, is bound to become a KC Fringe favorite. My guess is Ms. Johnson is simply pleased they love her in Philly: she’s just been named BrainSpunk’s new Playwright in Residence, with includes their commitment to produce a new play by Johnson in its upcoming 2015 season.

This year’s KC Fringe also featured the new work of five additional regional Guild members who are becoming established as playwrights in their own right. The proficient and talented Bill Rogers—whose work has been featured at the Guild’s Friday Night Footlights—had his newest work, a musical entitled, Dangerous to Dance With, presented. Rogers, a playwright, lyricist and librettist, has had much of his work produced in this region, including four previous plays that debuted in the KC Fringes of 2009, 2010, and 2011. Catherine Browder, Glendora Davis, Lezlie Revelle and Nancy Parks had their own group of short plays produced in Turning Points, a striking consideration of how people face life-altering situations. These women have also collaborated for KC Potluck Productions. Potluck showcases scripts by emerging women playwrights from all over the United States through professional readings and staged productions.

The St Lou Fringe was privileged this year to feature the work of St. Louis Guild member Christopher Limber. Riffs in a set of 10 was a stylish and spicy fusion of jazz and poetic interludes. Joined by an ensemble of musicians and St. Louis club performers, Limber arranged a wonderful cabaret tribute reflecting and celebrating 1940’s jazz greats. This overwhelmingly talented playwright and composer is the Education Director for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, where his contributions as a playwright earned local awards for Outstanding Productions in 2010 and 2011.

hwright@dramatistsguild.com