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Tag Archives: Darren Sextro

Kansas City Actors Theatre has opened the final show in their 10th Season down at The Carlsen Center on the campus of JCCC.  Crimes of the Heart is a dark comedy filled in tragedy and laughs, suicide and lemonade.  Come out and see us if you can.  The show runs through March 8th.  For tickets check this out.  Or, if you know me well enough to email me, drop me a note and I can probably get you a discount.

Check out what the media is saying:

The always excellent, Deborah Hirsch, of The Pitch, proclaims the story strong and rich, full of idiosyncratic performances.  “This casting, if in lieu of narrative logic, provides an ideal platform for this talented ensemble. It also adds a depth that might not otherwise exist in this largely light work…”.  Full review here.

Diana Reese at the Kansas City Star calls it “memorable theatre” saying: “I hated to say goodbye to the sisters Magrath“.   She goes on to say that “Coleman Crenshaw shines in his KCAT debut”.   Read the full review on the KC Star website here.

The KC Metropolis reviewer, Karen Hauge, chimes in with:  “Henley’s fine, colloquial writing and delicate storytelling come to life in the careful hands of the actors and director Darren Sextro.”  Find the full text of Karen Hauge’s wonderfully crafted review here.

Frank C. Siraguso calls it “just plain fun” and “a fast-paced tale” in his review over at the Kansas City InfoZine.

Bob Evans, with the Examiner, says it is “a super-strong cast from top to bottom” that create a “darkly funny” play that he gives his “highest recommendation“.   Full review here.

Come out and join the Southern Gothic humor of Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart and add you voice to the conversation below in the comments!

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Edward Albee has called Our Town “the greatest of all American plays” and I might tend to agree with him. It is, oft times obscured, a tough play that is unsentimental and rigorous in it’s assessment of the human state. New Hampshire version.

David Cromer has created a nifty version of the play that is true to the spirit of the piece and yet expansive and revelatory for our modern jaded times. Darren Sextro and OCTA are smart to grab this version and be the first to present it outside of Chicago and New York. Quite a coup for a non professional theatre!

And they do it pretty good justice. You won’t leave dry eyed, I can assure you. In this production, the play is allowed to speak very clearly for itself and, as Mr. Albee and I have told you, it is a great one.
Modern dress, house lights always up, this production does not thrive on artifice. And the actors are up to the challenge. They give simple, honest performances that gather strength as the evening goes along. This is clearly an ensemble effort so I won’t try and single people out lest I forget one or two, but the tone is set by a personable Coleman Crenshaw as the Stage Manager and everyone follows suit.

The third act of this play is a most beautiful 30 minutes. Sadly, having seen the Cromer production in New York, I found the shortcomings of technical resources here to be distracting. A bad wig and a bad set pull you out of the story for a bit but, thanks to some other winning aspects, all is not lost. The play is allowed to work its magic and indeed it does.

This is the best play going in Kansas City right now. You should see it.

Reviewed on KC Stage- Sept 22. 2010