Interview with MDC President Vicki Vodrey

The meeting featured a conversation between Kyle Ament and Vicki Vodrey, a playwright and screenwriter based in Kansas City. They discussed Vicki's journey from acting to writing, her experiences producing plays and screenwriting, and her involvement with the Midwest Dramatists Conference. Vicki shared insights into her writing process, emphasizing the importance of listening, acting training, and drawing from personal experiences. They explored the challenges and rewards of pursuing a career in the arts, with Vicki advising persistence, networking, and following one's passion. The conversation also touched on Vicki's work with Spinning Tree Theater as a mentor for young writers and her current projects, including a screenplay about a mother-daughter relationship.

MDC Conference Oct 15-18, 2025

 

  

The public is invited to join us for the 2025 Midwest Dramatist Conference. 

October 15-18, 2025

Hilton Garden Inn: 12080 S Strang Line Rd, Olathe, KS 66062

Adjudicators

Gene Kato: Next Stage Press

Luke Yankee: playwright/director/teacher, www.lukeyankee.com

Frank Higgins: playwright/poet

Michelle Tyrene Johnson: www.playwright-michelle-tyrene-johnson.com 

Conference Schedule 

These events are free and open to the public. Other conference events are for attending playwrights only and are not listed. 

Wednesday, October 15

• 8:00pm Introductions: Meet the adjudicators and special guests Audrey Crabtree, Executive Director of KC Fringe, and playwright, director, and actor Forrest Attaway, director of Story Shots.

Thursday, October 16

• 8:30am-12:45pm Adjudicated Readings (see reading schedule below)
• 12:45pm Lunch Break
• 1:45pm-5:30pm Adjudicated Readings (see reading schedule below)
• 7:00pm MDC Showcase: Join us for a collection works by MDC writers and board members. We will have some light snacks: hummus, veggies, pitas, etc. Grab yourself a drink from the bar for this fun evening event.

Saturday, October 18

• 10:45am-12:45pm Adjudicated Readings (see reading schedule below)
• 12:45pm Lunch Break
• 1:45pm-5:30pm Adjudicated Readings (see reading schedule below

Reading Schedule

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16 

8:30am
Hibernation by Scott Sickles
Empty Night by Abhisek Bhattacharya

9:00am
Hard Goodbye by Mary Wilkens
A Man’s World by Holly Lovejoy 

9:30am
Drift by Everett Robert
Apple by Ben Corbett

10:00am
Do You Still Like It? by Carole Douglas
The Confession by Diana Grillo

10:30am Break

10:45am
Big Girl (and Boy) Pants by Karen Campion
Va-Va-Vicarious by Kim Ruyle

11:15am
Age of Chimes by Elana Gartner
A Pointless Jester by Rand Higbee

11:45am
Exclusive by Bridget Sheaff
Vanessa by Judah Skoff

12:15pm
Asking by Marj O’Neill-Butler
The Congresswoman by Bill Goodwin

12:45pm Lunch

1:45pm
37 Origami Bees by John Busser

2:15pm
Therapy by Paul Braverman
Second-Hand Spiral Ham by DC Cathro

2:45pm
Biggest Fans in the Aftertimes by Greg Lam
Opening Doors by Katherine Vellis

3:15pm
Uncertain Egg-Town by Suzan Averitt
Wonders of the World by Lavinia Roberts

3:45pm Break

4:00pm
Dharma Hugs by Emmy Kreilkamp
Dangerous Places by Peggy Powell

4:30pm
Interplanetary Paul’s Divorce Spectacular by Marshall Gibbs
Against All Tropes by V.B. Rankin

5:00pm
Fresh Hell by Brian Cern
Gus by Douglas Gearhart

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 

10:45am
Coming Soon to the Dowling Bookstore by Michael O’Day
The Damp, Dark Room Just Off the Parlor by John Adams

11:15am    
They’re All Chalk by Dominic Moore
Legacy by William Carter

11:45am    
The WellerDads by Allan Maule
Coyote with Anvil on Tightrope by Bill Triplett

12:15pm    
The Visit to Burger King on 34th Street by Ivan Faute
Cover by Terrace Wyatt, Jr. 

12:45pm Lunch

1:45pm    
Unmuted by Clark DesSoye
The Dream, the Curtain, the Mouse by Royal Shiree

2:15pm   
The Last First Date by Brent Alles
Moon Love by Kieran Khanna

2:45pm    
An iBrain Play by Sean Gref
A Girl Who Acts Like That by Cherielyn Ferguson

3:15pm    
Soulglass by Tramaine Brathwaite
I’ll Get There by Donald Cooper

3:45pm Break

4:00pm
Fire Escape by Sache Satta
The Ride Home by Ward Kay

4:30pm   
Elvis: There’ll Never Be Another One Like Him by Teddy Durgin
A Vampire’s Reflection by Kyle Walker

5:00pm
The Many and Only by Dan Born
Ghost of Shabbos Past by Samuel Heyman

Directors

• Forrest Attaway
• Diane Bulan 
• Paul Hough
• Keely Hundley
• Phil Kinen 
• Shari Wassergord 
• Zachrey York

Actors

• Tim Ahlenius
• Jay Allen
• Joanna Benitez
• Kathy Breeden
• Brent Custer
• Daphany Edwards 
• Jose Faus
• Marshall Rimann
• Brie Henderson
• Matthew Henrickson 
• Ace Lovelace
• Kenan Meadows
• Mandy Mook 
• Alice Pollack 
• Sherri Roulette-Mosley 
• Cindy Siefers
• Curtis Smith
• Terraye Watson 
• Patty Whitlock
• Zachrey York

Narrators

• Bryan Colley
• Becky Froese
• Rob Hallifax 
• Keely Hundley 
• Phil Kinen 

Seeking Submissions for the 2025 Midwest Dramatists Conference

 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2025 CONFERENCE ARE CLOSED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT APPLIED. 

The Midwest Dramatists Center (MDC) is excited to announce the sixth annual Midwest Dramatists Conference on October 15-18, 2025 in Olathe, Kansas. The conference is a place for playwrights to gather and have their work shared and critiqued. We invite playwrights to attend from across the country, and we encourage a diversity of voices and viewpoints.

Accepted playwrights can look forward to the following activities: 

• October 15: Evening reception with special guest speakers from local arts organizations.

• October 16: A full day of adjudicated play readings followed by a showcase of work by MDC playwrights. 

• October 17: Inge Forum honoring Kansas playwright William Inge, followed by a performance of The Jonbenet Game by Tori Keenan-Zeltat the Unicorn Theatre. Shuttle service and tickets included.

• October 18: Breakout sessions and additional adjudicated play readings followed by a Gala Dinner.

 

Industry professionals Gene Kato with Next Stage Press (www.nextstagepress.com) and playwright/director/teacher Luke Yankee (www.lukeyankee.com) will serve as adjudicators for the play readings and conduct the breakout sessions. Additional adjudicators will be announced on our website.

 

To participate in the conference, submit a 10-minute play with no more than three characters and a brief bio. Each accepted playwright will be given a directed reading of their play by professional actors and receive adjudicator feedback. The play must be unpublished, but previous productions or readings are acceptable. There is no submission fee. One submission per playwright. The submission window will remain open until June 1 or until we have received 125 applications. Selected playwrights will be notified by July 1.  

Submit your 10-minute play and brief bio to director@midwestdramatists.org 

Once you are accepted, the conference registration is $275. 

Playwrights whose plays are chosen are required to attend the conference in order to have their plays read. The conference will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Olathe, Kansas, 12080 S Strang Line Road. The hotel is offering a discounted rate for attendees. The Inge Forum will be held at the Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri.  

If you are not participating in the festival, there are several Midwest Dramatists Conference events that are open and free to the public to attend. More details about the conference will be announced at www.midwestdramatists.org.

Announcing Inge Forum at 2025 MDC Conference

The Midwest Dramatists Center (“MDC”) is excited to announce its collaboration with members of the William Inge family to produce an Inge Forum as part of its 2025 Midwest Dramatists Conference in the fall. 

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.

Midwest Dramatists Conference this weekend

2024 Midwest Dramatists Conference

September 26-28, 2024 • Hilton Garden Inn, Olathe, KS

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.

Thursday, September 26

• 7:00pm: Opening Reception
• 8:00pm: Meet the adjudicators Edward Einhorn, Lonita Cook, David Hanson, and Lindsay Adams Kennedy with special guests Ernie Nolan, Artistic Director of the Unicorn Theatre, and Khalia Davis, Artistic Director of the Coterie Theatre.

Friday, September 27

• 9:00am
  The Last Meal by Elena Naskova
  Dead Caterpillars by Layli Rohani
• 9:30am
  Who’s a Snowbird by Kathleen Maule Holen
  Gun Free by Jessie Salsbury
• 10:00am
  Big Footprints by Kyle Walker
  The Wonder Drug by Daniel Born
• 10:45am
  Scribe Stadium by Danielle Dresden
  Most Outstanding Minority Girl by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos
  
• 11:15am
  Mother’s Day by Betsy Anne Huggins
  The Tenting by Tom Moran
• 11:45am
  Juliet’s Post Credit Scene by Greg Lam
• Objectively by Allan Maule
• 1:15pm
  Doors Are Closing by Donald Cooper
  Something Blue by Sache Satta
• 1:45pm
  Love Letters by Amber Dickinson
  White Cotton, Black Light by Samuel Heyman
• 2:15pm
  Ring Around the Rosary by Ward Kay
  Spring Break by Kevin King
• 3:00pm
  Loneliest Road in America by Grace Laughton
  A Cupboard Full of Coffee Cups by Bridget Grace Sheaff
• 3:30pm
  The Last Man on Earth by Arthur M. Jolly
  The Illiad: Book 7 by Rand Higbee
• 4:00pm
  With Apologies to White Elephants by Everett Robert
  My Piano Doesn't Like Me by Larry Rinkel
• 4:30pm
  Seven Polaroids of Men's Bottoms by John Adams
  The Drums by Katherine Vondy

• 7:00pm Horse Power: Tom Bass’ American Story: Join us for a new play by MDC playwright and board member Michelle Tyrene Johnson at the Coterie Theatre in Crown Center. (attendance optional).

Saturday, September 28

• 8:30am Breakout Session 1 (not open to the public)
  
• 10:00am Breakout Session 2 (not open to the public)
  

• 11:30am
  Unmuted by Clark DesSoye
  Esto Tambien Pasara by Jessica Mayer
• 12:00pm
  Killing Maggie by Laura Mazzuca Toops
  The Waiting Room by Alli Hartley-Kong
• 12:30pm
  Not About Pretty by Wendy Vogel
  Mnemorian by Annie Considine
• 2:00pm
  The Coat with the Silver Lining by Alison Reeger Cook
  I Will Tell the Bees by Audrey Webb
• 2:30pm
  Surprise Visit by James Mainard O'Connell
  Geminds by Andra Laine Hunter
• 3:00pm
  The Three O'Clock by Peggy Powell
  Two Sisters and a Red Lollipop by Judah Skoff
• 3:45pm
  Intake by Celeste Michael
  Put Me In Coach by Frank Shima
• 4:15pm
  The Hands That Rock the Candy Bowl by Teddy Durgin
  Imperfect Storms by Scott C. Sickles
• 4:45pm
  Code by Steven Ty
  Logs by Haz Cady
• 5:15pm
  Prior Engagement by Wyn Alyse Thomas
  How About Them Dodgers by Philip Middleton Williams

• 7:00pm MDC Gala Dinner (not open to the public)