Best of KC 2024: Fringe Fest’s Gulag Girls delivers international drama through feminist force
Photo by Taylor Zimmerman
Earlier this month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can take a peek at the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some local people, places, and things that we thought clearly won 2024. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November.
Fringe Fest offers the chance to discover the unyielding talent that lives in Kansas City. So many beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking stories were told over the two-week celebration of the local arts scene. However, one particularly stood out to audiences.
Gulag Girls was written by Shea Ketchum after a trip to Eastern Europe deeply moved her, specifically her tour of the Soviet Union Women’s prison. The stories of the women and their abusive matron sparked inspiration for the play.
The writing brought the audience to tears and laughter, sometimes in a whiplash-inducing fashion. During times of political upset or militant ruling, women’s stories are often overlooked. The play details horrors based on real women’s stories, making the room heavy with emotion, but the bonds between them brought a sense of hope and comfort. Though all terribly different and traumatized, they banded together to survive.
The play was truly brought to life by the outstanding acting. The raw and oftentimes comedic performances were elevated by the thick Russian accents they all adorned. It truly spoke volumes to the sheer amount of effort they put into these characters. The almost exclusively female cast was accompanied by one man who played three separate roles. When asked about this, playwright and actress Ketchum spoke about how it’s primarily women who have to be the interchangeable personalities on stage. She decided it was the men’s turn this time around, which was just another way to put women and their stories at the forefront of this play.
The story doesn’t end with simply informing people about the terrifying conditions people have to go through during times of war and unrest. The crew took it a step further and donated a portion of the proceeds to World Central Kitchen. The nonprofit works on-site at battlegrounds and natural disaster zones to provide food to those facing the threat of starvation. They’re currently helping the people of Gaza and Ukraine. A fantastic story, a knock-out cast, some important history lessons, and for a good cause—truly KC arts at their best.
