Moxie Theatre’s production of Kathryn Walat’s “Bleeding Kansas”—playing at Diversionary Theatre through Nov. 2 — is a fine piece of theater readers should not miss. Walat takes the issues of the 1855-’56 Kansas Territory—peopled with Abolitionists and pro-slavery factions—and personifies them in two women: Hannah Rose Allen, an avid, schoolmarm Abolitionist (Jennifer Eve Thorn) and Kittson Clarke (Jo Anne Glover), a fierce, fiery settler married to George (David S. Humphrey), a rather laid-back but loving farmer out of his depth. On a homestead near Lawrence, the Clarks and Allen are threatened by southerner pro-slavery factions and especially by the menacing and violent Edwin Redpath (Christopher Buess). Mark Petrich plays pro-slavery neighbor Josiah Nichols. All three men play multiple roles. To Walat’s credit, her fast-moving play does not preach, merely raises questions, among them: Who are we as a nation? What shaped us and why? And does what we were—violent, intractable and destructive—play into our present-day society? “Bleeding Kansas” is an excellent work, intelligently staged by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, who elicits the best from her exceptional actors. It provides a fascinating, pre-Civil War insight into what shaped our nation and our society, violence, warts and all. The work is especially pertinent now, as we face tough times and ask ourselves whither America. Moxie has a way of selecting resonant properties. The story telling is considerably enhanced by the wide-open and gritty scenic design (Jerry Sonnenberg), the excellent lighting design of Jason Bieber and the sound design/original music of Jason Conners. Jennifer Brawn Gittings’ costumes are specific and practical, especially intriguing as Hannah Rose evolves from proper Eastern Seaboard matron to frontierswoman. Cut from cloth similar to that of Beth Henley’s “Abundance,” the play, the characters and the design elements manage to put the grandeur and horror of the westward migration and settlement into the confines of Diversionary Theatre. We are, it seems, violent, divided and stubborn, just like the women at the end of “Bleeding Kansas,” left to carry on and declare with wonder, “This is America!” “Bleeding Kansas” premiered at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, N.Y., two years ago. The playwright is familiar to San Diego audiences because of Moxie’s production of her play “Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen.” She soon will be endeared to younger audiences through her play “Miss Electricity,” La Jolla Playhouse’s 2009 elementary school Pop Tour. “Bleeding Kansas” continues at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., San Diego. For tickets ($25, discounts for seniors, students and military), call (858) 598-7620or visit www.moxietheatre.com. One hundred years later Set in 1964 and playing at a theater complex on the other side of town is S.M. Shephard-Massat’s comedy “Waiting to Be Invited” (presented by the late Dr. Floyd Gaffney’s Common Ground Theatre at the Educational Cultural Complex through Nov. 2 only). The play, which had its premiere at the Denver Center Theater, concerns four black women, churchgoing co-workers at a local doll factory, who decide to put their newly gained civil rights to the test by taking the bus downtown to lunch in a fancy department store’s whites-only tea room. The work is directed by well-known local actor/director Antonio “TJ” Johnson, who elicits strong characters from a magnificent ensemble that comprises Veronica Henson-Phillips, Ida L. Rhem, Debi Mason and Monique Gaffney, assisted by Anthony D. Bell and Sally S. Stockton. It’s tight, funny and touching and ends with a projected-slide tribute to Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King and other iconic historical figures, ending with the Newsweek cover of Barack Obama, reminders of how very far we’ve come as a nation since “Bleeding Kansas.” “Waiting to Be Invited” continues at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 2 (no Friday performance that weekend) at the Educational Cultural Complex, 4343 Oceanview Blvd., San Diego. For tickets ($20 general admission, $17 groups of ten, students military and seniors), call (619) 263-7911or visit www.commonground theatre.org.
