KCPublic Presents MEDEA: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY

Kansas City Public Theatre (KCPublic) presents "First Mondays at the Arts Bar." Every first Monday of the month, KCPublic presents staged readings and small scale productions of plays by area playwrights and other work which reflects the unique history and concerns of the Kansas City community.

April's Featured Play: Medea: An American Tragedy by Nathan Bowman
Directed by Elizabeth Bettendorf Bowman

Nathan Bowman is the Producing Artistic Director of KCPublic and a Ph.D. student in theatre at the University of Kansas where he works primarily on Greek theatre and the Suzuki Acting Method. Nathan has worked as a theatre artist in Kansas City for over a decade, including six seasons at Kansas City Repertory Theatre where he is currently the Assistant Director for their upcoming production of Sweeney Todd. Nathan has worked internationally in Montreal and does work in Greece as an actor and collaborator on plays in ancient theaters, having recently appeared as Kreon in Antigone at the Ancient Theatre of Oiniades.

An adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy by Euripides, Medea: An American Tragedy tells the story of a woman who is lured to a new country by dreams of freedom and a new life, only to be deceived, exploited, and exiled. Her new land has taken everything from her, now she's taking it back.

Medea: An American Tragedy will be fully produced at various locations around Kansas City this summer and at Fringe Festival KC.

All KCPublic events are FREE and open to the public

Kansas City Public Theatre provides access to the arts through year-round theatre entertainment free of charge to the public. This mission is carried out in two activities: first, through producing aesthetically and ideologically diverse new works and reimagined classics which reflect the unique history and concerns of the Kansas City community; and second, to cultivate civic-minded artists, audiences, and citizens through community-based devised theatre workshops.

Elizabeth Bettendorf Bowman is a director, teacher, and arts administrator from Wahoo, Nebraska. Since graduating from Northwest Missouri State University in 2012, she has made Kansas City her home and has worked at several area not-for-profit companies. She received her Master of Arts in Theatre from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is a faculty member at Benedictine College where she teaches theatre courses.

As an active teaching artist, Elizabeth has taught classes in sketch comedy, creative drama, scene study, improvisation, auditioning, Elizabethan history, stage combat, and beginning text analysis for the Coterie Theatre and Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. As a director and administrator, Elizabeth has worked at such companies as the Coterie Theatre, Act ONE Theatre Academy, Corbin Theatre, KC Fringe, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre of Kansas City, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Through her work in theatre education and outreach, Elizabeth was inspired to create a theatre which reaches all corners of the diverse Kansas City community. By producing free theatre, Elizabeth hopes to foster the creativity of our citizens and explore the truly global nature of the Kansas City region.

Nathan Bowman is a Native American theatre artist and musician from Kansas City, MO. Embracing an interdisciplinary approach to theatre, Nathan obtained a Master of Arts in Religious Studies before beginning work on his PhD in Theatre at the University of Kansas, where he has directed and teaches courses in acting, and theatre history.

Nathan has worked professionally in the Kansas City area for over a decade and has trained at the Second City in Chicago and in the Suzuki Acting Method. As an actor, Nathan has worked in several area theatre, film, and television productions, and he has been employed by Kansas City Repertory Theatre for six seasons as a stage carpenter. Nathan has worked internationally in Montreal and currently does work in Greece as an actor and collaborator with local Greek theatre artists on work in ancient performance spaces. Nathan has appeared as Kreon in Antigone at the Ancient Theatre of Oiniades and is scheduled to return to Greece for the next few summers to work with playwrights and direct productions of Greek tragedy. By producing free theatre, Nathan hopes to create an open space for intercultural exchange and imaginative new ways of telling stories.

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