September is within our grasp and the rich harvest that is local theatre offers a variety of delicacies to please the most discerning palate. Choose a bowl of laughter with the tender coming-of-age comedy Moon Over the Brewery, onstage at the Kechi Playhouse from September 2nd through the 25th. In this Bruce Graham play, a single mother waits tables by day, paints at night, and copes with her gifted teenage daughter, all while searching for love.
If your taste is more attuned to music, you may prefer to drink deep from the glass of vintage opera; on September 3rd, The Wichita Grand Opera presents Verdi's Rigoletto. The story of a lascivious duke, his jester, Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter, Gilda, this opera is thought to be one of Verdi's best among his mid-career masterpieces. It is onstage at Century II.
Never just a snack is any work by William Shakespeare, and beginning September 9th, you can catch performances of Othello at a variety of city parks from Friday through Sunday, through the remainder of the month. Although adapted from the Italian writer Cinthio's story “Un Capitano Moro,” or “A Moorish Captain,” Shakespeare made a number of changes that make it a distinct work— for example, in Cinthio's version of the tale, the character who corresponds to Shakespeare's Iago is desperately in love with and rejected by the Captain's wife, and his subsequent actions are based on this. The Wichita Shakespeare Company is producing The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice and setting it in modern times. Bring a blanket, lawn chairs, and an appetite for language.
