Events/Programs/Outreach
Events
KCMPT Black Playwright Festival
The KC Black Playwright Festival offers opportunities for Black playwrights across the country to gain critical feedback on their work with a culturally literate audience who understand the complexity and richness of Black theater. Past winners include Bysen Boyd, Shashone Lambert Short, and Adrienne Dawes.
Select playwright finalists have their plays featured in a staged reading juried by a panel of theater professionals. Local audiences attend each reading over three days and provide feedback to each playwright about their work. After all staged readings, a jury panel selects the winning play.
Watch this space for the 2023 Black Playwright Festival information.
Programs
Book Club
KCMPT is excited to read and experience Black narratives by Black voices in multiple literary genres this year. Discussion dates are announced on social media and email. Be sure to join our email list and like our KCMPT Book Club page on Facebook to get details and the meeting link.
Stage Manager Training Program
The Stage Managers program is designed to increase representations of Black stage managers in the American Theater. We recruit, develop, train and employ black artists with little to no experience to work in the American theater in our custom stage manger’s training program which includes on site mentoring, practicum training in show running, board operation and all technology used to stage manage productions . Our Stage Managers Program is the first in the nation to recruit, train and employ Black stage managers to increase representation of African diasporic artists.
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Alchemy - A Black Maker Space
Alchemy is KCMPT’s Black Maker Space initiative which offers content creators space to explore and share new creative projects on the first and fourth Thursday of each month. Space is be offered on a first-come first-served basis and must be reserved based on space availability. Only 3 people per session with a 2-hour limit will be allowed in the work space.
Sign up now to reserve your space
Black Critics Program
In Summer 2023, KCMPT will launch one of the first Black Critics programs in the United States. This program will open opportunities for local writers to work with dramaturgy and theater critics from across the country to learn the fundamentals of writing a culturally literate and competent theatrical critique. The majority of theater critics locally, nationally, and internationally are of European descent.
Mainstream theater critics rarely have fluency in African American history and African diasporic cultural production. As a result, the critiques of Black authored, acted and directed shows receive unfair and uneven treatment. The Black Critics Program challenges so-called industry norms by opening a national dialogue about the importance of creating space and opportunities for black intellectuals who can speak to the dynamic work of emerging, present, and past Black playwrights.
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Director Program
This program was designed to increase representation of Black female directors in the American Theater. We recruit, train and employ Black female directors to work in the American theater.
High School Monologue Competition
Partnering with True Colors Theatre in Atlanta, we are an official site of the national high school monologue competition which selects promising emerging high school actors to perform monologues from Black playwrights and compete for a national title in Atlanta, Georgia at Kenny Leon’s True Colors theater.
Outreach
Upcoming Events
