Unicorn Theatre Announces 2018-2019 Season; SWEAT, THE HUMANS, THE WOLVES, and More

Unicorn Theatre, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin, announces the 45th season of magnetic and provocative plays that delve into social issues, including Pulitzer Prize winners, a Tony Award winner, and World Premieres! The new season will open September 5th, 2018. Unicorn Theatre will announce the highly anticipated seventh production this fall.

Subscriptions and memberships for the new season are on sale now with monthly payment plans available for as low as $24 a month (for 8 months). In addition to a full line-up of new productions to Kansas City, the Unicorn will also continue the In-Progress New Play Reading Series, bringing scripts in development and under consideration for production in upcoming seasons before the public.

The Effect

September 5th to September 30th, 2018
by Lucy Prebble
UK Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play

Connie and Tristan are magnetically drawn to each other. Racing hearts, sleepless nights - they've fallen head over heels. But is their infatuation love or just a symptom of the new antidepressant they're taking in a clinical trial? As two supervising doctors try to untangle the ethical quandaries of this illicit relationship, Connie and Tristan risk it all to be together. Consequences be damned.

Sweat

October 17th to November 11th, 2018
by Lynn Nottage
Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

A group of close friends share everything: secrets, laughs, and drinks at the local watering hole in Reading, PA. But when layoffs begin at the factory where they work, friendships are shattered and loyalties are questioned in the fight for survival. This prize winning play by Unicorn favorite Lynn Nottage (Ruined, By the Way Meet Vera Stark) explores the collapse of working class America and the impact on communities when Union workers are locked out and racial tensions run high.

The Wolves

November 28th to December 30th, 2018
by Sarah DeLappe
Finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

A Co-production with UMKC Department of Theatre

Left Quad. Right Quad. Lunge. A fierce girl's soccer team warms up for games and practice. From the safety of their indoor soccer field, the team kicks around everything from balls to politics. Each one struggles to hang on to her individuality while remaining a part of the group. Take a first-hand look at nine young women exploring who they are and who they want to become in a complicated world.

Nomad Motel

January 23rd to February 17th, 2019
by Carla Ching
World Premiere

On the not-so-sunny side of California, teenage Alix bounces between motel rooms while taking care of her brothers for her absent mother. Her classmate, Mason, is a budding songwriter sent to America for high school by his father in Hong Kong. Together, they must learn to scrape by without giving up their dreams. This Rolling World Premiere is a coming-of-age tale about motel kids and parachute kids making something out of nothing in the land of plenty.

The Humans

March 6th to March 31st, 2019

by Stephen Karam
Winner of the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play
Finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Breaking with tradition, the Blake clan gathers for Thanksgiving dinner in lower Manhattan at their daughter's new apartment. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle duplex, family tensions reach a boiling point and the secrets that bubble up threaten to change this modern American family forever.

Bond

April 24th to May 19th, 2019
by Logan Black
A Full Length Premiere
In Collaboration with Mesner Puppet Theatre

Kansas City playwright, actor, and veteran Logan Black explores the age old relationship between K-9 and human in this deeply affecting true story. While serving in Iraq, Black and Diego, his Specialized Search Dog, were one of the most successful K-9 bomb sniffing teams ever. They worked side by side, saved each other's lives, and survived the bloodiest year of the war together. With a life-sized Diego puppet created by Mesner Puppet Theatre, this KC Fringe favorite takes on a whole new life in this expanded, full length and fully-realized production.

One More Exciting New Play
to Be Announced

June 5th to June 30th, 2019

"Something's coming, I don't know what it is but it is going to be great."

Our 7th show is so hot we can't even touch it yet. Because we produce only the hottest new plays, the rights are still being negotiated. We will be announcing our final show of the Season in the Fall!

Season Subscriptions and memberships are now on sale. Call 816-531-7529 EXT. 10 or buy in person at the box office located at 3828 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64111.

About Unicorn Theatre

Founded in 1974, Unicorn Theatre enhances the Kansas City community by developing and producing high-quality, thought-provoking plays that have never been seen in the region. We illuminate social issues by shining a light on diversity and inclusive stories which include race, religion and gender identity. Unicorn creates opportunities for the advancement of emerging and established actors, directors, playwrights, designers, technicians and administrative staff. Unicorn Theatre is under the artistic and executive leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin, who joined the company in 1979. From a newly expanded home in the Midtown neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, the Unicorn houses two stages-The Levin Stage (formerly The Main Stage) and The Jerome Stage (added in 2008). After a year-long capital campaign Unicorn Theatre was able to purchase the building outright in 2014. 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.

National New Play Network (NNPN) is the country's alliance of non-profit professional theaters dedicated to the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has supported more than 200 productions nationwide through its innovative National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere program, which provides playwright and production support for new works at its Member theaters. Additional programs - its annual National Conference, National Showcase of New Plays, and MFA Playwrights Workshop; the NNPN Annual and Smith Prize commissions; its residencies for playwrights, producers and directors; and the organization's member accessed Collaboration, Festival, and Travel banks and online information sessions - have helped cement the Network's position as a vital force in the new play landscape. NNPN also strives to pioneer, implement, and disseminate ideas and programs that revolutionize the way theaters collaborate to support new plays and playwrights. Its most recent project, the New Play Exchange, is changing the way playwrights share their work and others discover it by providing immediate access to information on more than 9,500 new plays by living writers. NNPN's 30 Core and more than 75 Associate Members - along with the more than 150 affiliated artists who are its alumni, the thousands of artists and artisans employed annually by its member theaters, and the hundreds of thousands of audience members who see its supported works each year - are creating the new American theater. nnpn.org

UMKC Theatre has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top graduate theatre training programs in the country. Graduates from UMKC Theatre are invited to the most prestigious New York and Los Angeles professional reviews and auditions to exhibit their work and secure positions with national and international performing companies. We build bridges. We assist the creative student in making the journey to becoming a creative professional. The practice of the department is to vigorously educate students in the many arts, crafts and traditions of theatre, and provide a basis for future careers in the creative industries. Our program offers intensive hands-on experience while at the same time fostering analytical and contextual skills. The practical experience of theatre-making occurs not only within the performing venues of UMKC, but also in professional theatres in Kansas City. Theatre is a passion. We seek it, we train for it and we embody it. UMKC Theatre is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) and the University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA).

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