Playwright
William Inge was born in Independence, Kansas in 1913 and wrote “Come
Back Little Sheba,” "Picnic,” "Bus Stop," and "The Dark at the Top of
the Stairs" in the 1950s. Inge won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1953
for “Picnic,” and his screenplay for “Splendor in the Grass” won the
Academy Award in 1961.
The
Inge Forum, one day of the conference, will include workshops, readings
from some of Inge’s plays, and a discussion on the impact of his work
on American theatre. The Forum, along with some other conference events,
will take place at the Unicorn Theatre.
“The
Inge family is proud and excited to be a contributor,” said Paula
Brown, a great-niece of Inge, who was impressed by last year’s MDC
Conference which she attended.
MDC was started in the Greater Kansas City, Missouri metropolitan area
in 2014 by playwrights Bryan Colley, David Hanson, Michelle Tyrene
Johnson, and Vicki Vodrey. It serves to support emerging playwrights,
furthering the growth of their art and its impact on the greater theater
community and the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
“We
couldn’t be more excited to be honoring one of the most important
playwrights from the Midwest in our conference,” says Vodrey, Producing
Director of the conference. “I believe partnering with the Inge family
is a natural fit for MDC.”
The
next conference is scheduled for October 15-18, 2025 with more details
to follow. Applications for playwrights to apply to the conference will
be announced and open in the spring.
