HAND TO GOD
“Kelly Kitchens directs an effervescent staging of the Tony-nominated play [HAND TO GOD] at Seattle Public Theater, filled out with a cast of physical comedy pros who prove themselves willing to continuously up the ante on the play’s outrageousness.”
- City Arts Magazine
“The show is comedy gold and Kitchens and has made sure that gold is polished up to a brilliant shine. I urge you to catch one of the funniest plays in years.”
- Broadway World
“The cast, directed by Kelly Kitchens, expertly surfs the play’s demanding line between broad characters and nuance.”
- Seattle Times
“Everything about Seattle Public Theater’s funny as hell, whip smart, sardonically sadistic yet emotionally compelling production of Hand to God is on point.”
- Seattle Gay Scene
O+E, a new adaptation and staging of Gluck’s ORFEO ED EURIDICE
“The story of Orpheus and Eurydice like you've never seen before.”
- The Stranger
“The end of this startling production does not give you easy answers. You’ll keep thinking of it, remembering, and hoping you never have to hope to bring back to life the person you love.”
- The Stranger
“‘O+E’ bucks operatic tradition and powerfully refutes what people complain about when they complain about opera.”
- The Seattle Times
“If the thought of attending an opera makes you yawn preemptively, Seattle Opera has the antidote in “O+E,” a short, sweet, extremely inventive take on the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.”
- The Seattle Times
“O+E is riddled with heavy-handed signifiers for grief, and high-stakes performances from its leads, and that’s exactly how it should be. Orpheus and Eurydice is, after all, a myth about a literal descent into hell, and the maybe-transcendent power of love. It’s not supposed to be coolly minimalist. But O+E somehow manages to be both of these things.”
- The Seattle Times
“Five minutes into my conversation with stage director Kelly Kitchens about her latest project, O+E, running through this weekend at Seattle Opera, I’ve taken a hard, emotional left, from roaring laughter to earnest silence to hide the fact I might cry.”
- City Arts Magazine
“[This] team plants a flag saying that, on their watch, civil and social progress will only move forward, we’re all in it together.”
-- City Arts Magazine
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
“You'll find yourself gifted with the mind-blowingly gorgeous evening that is [Showtunes] current production of "Light in the Piazza."
- Broadway World
“Director Kelly Kitchens manages to capture the joy and the tragedy of the show beautifully and not giving away the secret too soon.”
- Broadway World
“[This production] made me believe in the power of love again, WOW. You do NOT want to miss this one.”
- Broadway World
“Director Kelly Kitchens added some highly creative touches and brought the witty dialogue to life with wonderful comic timing.”
- Drama in the Hood
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY
“The show, directed with comedic aplomb by Kelly Kitchens, is certainly a great conversation starter with some dead-on satire.”
- Crosscut, Misha Berson
“Director Kelly Kitchens paces the show beautifully and keeps the chaos reigned in so the jokes land. Even the penultimate scene, which is filled with chaos, is staged so well that the resulting "play" they create almost becomes a fifth character in the room.”
- Broadway World
“A smart script with great direction from Kelly Kitchens, a fabulous cast and great design elements.”
- Seattle Gay Scene
“The entire stage exudes biting irony, as every component of the production perfectly captures the middle American attitude it seeks to critique.”
- Seattle Spectator
“Director Kelly Kitchens’ work is evident...There are moments of pure mayhem, but every overturned chair and scream amongst the racket is meticulously layered, which achieves an impressively faithful rendering of the play.”
- Seattle Spectator
MEEK
“Meek by Penelope Skinner is getting its American premiere in a terrific, taut production...It is a great play and not to be missed.”
- Drama in the Hood
“The play is riveting and takes on the theme of standing up to oppressive regimes in a fresh way. And, yes, it will make you think, too.”
- Drama in the Hood
“Meek is an important show that combines the ancient with the contemporary, and what results is immediate and raw.”
- City Arts Magazine
“Seattle Public Theater is doing a great job with this emotionally gripping show. They keep you on the edge of your seat throughout and provide an atmosphere that truly reflects the reality of the themes the play explores.”
- Broadway World
“Meek by Penelope Skinner is getting its American premiere in a terrific, taut production...It is a great play and not to be missed.”
- Drama in the Hood
The Revolutionists
“Seattle Public Theater's 'The Revolutionists' is a brilliantly written and directed play that is thought-provoking, thrilling, and hilarious.”
- Broadway World
“Kelly Kitchens’ deft direction of the show makes every moment count and the audience is riveted from start to finish.”
- Seattle Times
“A triumph of direction and acting, "The Revolutionists" showcases the immense talent of its cast and creative team, and it’s a play that will stay with you long after the final curtain.”
- The Stranger
“This production of "The Revolutionists" is an absolute must-see. Kelly Kitchens has outdone herself with this exceptional production.”
- Seattle Gay Scene
“This show has it all - drama, humor, and a powerful message. Kelly Kitchens’ direction brings out the best in every aspect of the production.”
- City Arts Magazine
FIRE SEASON
“Squire's dialog is so raw and honest that you can't help but lean forward and pay attention and director Kelly Kitchens keeps the complex tapestry of scenes flowing through each other without ever becoming muddled or bogged down.”
- Broadway World
“This is simply one of the most exciting new works I've seen in a while and deserves an audience...I urge you to catch this one before it moves on.”
- Broadway World
“Exceptional...a deeply-felt, unshakably-seething contemporary drama.”
- The Daily
ON CLOVER ROAD
“Blistering intense.”
- Broadway World
“Director Kelly Kitchens has taken this play and found the perfect build of intensity for the journey... Be warned, there are very few moments for the audience to feel safe and comfortable in this one. And that's the point.”
- Broadway World
“...makes even the bitterest pill a joy to swallow.”
- Broadway World
“On Clover Road is a taut and tartly executed contemporary shocker with enough twists and turns to satisfy the most jaded fan of this genre.”
- Seattle Gay Scene
“Kelly Kitchens has kept her direction smartly snappy and compelling and she guides her actors to believable but passionate performances while orchestrating some very complicated bits of physicality for her actors. This is a tough show to pull off with high emotions but also a need for practical physical things to have VERY precisely to keep the plot moving and Ms. Kitchens and the actors superbly pull it off.”
- Seattle Gay Scene
GROUNDED
“...will shake you to your core.”
- Broadway World
“Shows like this are why we go see theater. Every now and again we see something this stunning that stays with us long after the show is over.”
- Broadway World
“Grounded is an intense and breathless play that explores the singularly terrifying landscapes of modern warfare and the human heart.”
- City Arts
“...a one-woman show that may leave deep, aching craters in your soul.”
- City Arts
“Grounded is smartly executed, with moments as moving and memorable as they are deeply uncomfortable. Its message bears repeating.”
- City Arts
CHRISTMASTOWN
“Not only does director Kelly Kitchens avoid cheesiness (which something like this could so, so easily have in spades), but she creates a yuletide, hard boiled mash-up that works both as a comedy and as a noir. Ring-a-ding-ding, we got us a perfect parody!”
- Broadway World
“This is how you do a parody properly: it goes beyond imitating the genre it's satirizing and truly becomes the genre that it's satirizing. Of course Christmastown is silly on the surface, but it's also an engaging crime story. Before you know it, you want to know whodunnit, even if whodunnit might be Kris Kringle.”
- Broadway World
MEDEA
“Director Kelly Kitchens finds humor and horror in feminist reading of Medea.”
- The Stranger
“Entering the Center Theatre to see Seattle Shakespeare Company’s brilliant staging of Medea, I anticipated spending an hour or two with a raging madwoman. But director Kelly Kitchens’ production portrays Medea as an everywoman, a standard member of a social fabric.”
- Drama in the Hood
“A taut, sleek and musicalized version of Medea…the language feels immediate and accessible. This is a great production…there will be a lot to talk about on the drive home.”
- Seattle Gay News
THE OTHER PLACE
“Seattle Public Theater's The Other Place is beyond brilliant.”
- Broadway World
“The Seattle Public Theater realized a woman's most private, subjective mental deterioration with aplomb. Juliana's cerebral journey, though tumultuous, results in a very well-rounded, heart-wrenching end that will leave you speechless.”
- Broadway World
“Skillfully distorts.”
- Seattle Weekly
“Director Kelly Kitchens extracts the most poignancy from Juliana’s regrets, her attempts at civility and reconciliations, and her mistaken identities.”
- Seattle Weekly
“Capturing the experience of mental illness with generosity and nuance onstage is a tricky matter. To their credit, playwright, director, and actor allow naturally occurring humor, including terribly bitter humor, to stand on its own terms.”
- Seattle Weekly
THE ART OF BAD MEN
“The actors are rock solid in their portrayals of these characters and the Direction, by Kelly Kitchens, is flawless. She is extraordinarily effective at keeping everything proportionate to these commonplace characters in an anything but commonplace circumstance.”
- SeattleActor.com
“With the acting and directing so authentic, it felt like we were seeing each of these stories enacted, but not 'acted'. The end result was powerful and moving.”
- SeattleActor.com
“The Art of Bad Men is a theatrical triumph that feels like a late night conversation with an ancestor who has come back to tell us his story. Don’t miss this show.”
- SeattleActor.com
“The show itself is an engaging one and director Kelly Kitchens keeps the messages and moments crystal clear and the pace flowing especially with her simple yet stylized scene changes.”
- Broadway World
“Kelly Kitchens — continuing to establish herself as one of our city’s better directors — uses [the] space well, emphasizing the inherent intimacy and combining it with her actors’ talent to deliver an impressive production.”
- Seattle Star
“The Art of Bad Men is that rare 'traditional' theatrical production that does not shy away from its intelligence, its darker impulses, nor its conflicting emotions. It simply tells its straightforward story while sticking to its convictions.”
- Seattle Star
“Kelly Kitchens’ skilled and unobtrusive direction makes optimal use of the small theater space at InScape, and trusts the well-honed script to carry the audience scene by scene nearer to the true hearts of people in all their complex layers of good and bad.”
- Drama in the Hood
“The entire experience of the evening is unified by director Kelly Kitchens' ingenious staging, which includes choreographed scene changes with music, and fluid fun set pieces.”
- Seattle Gay News
SLOWGIRL
“Under Kelly Kitchens' careful direction the two characters slowly peel away the protective layers they’ve built around themselves.”
- Arts Stage
SHE’S COME UNDONE
“She’s Come Undone gets a thoughtful and sensitive staging from the Book-It artisans, particularly from Kelly Kitchens, the director who labored to keep the novel in a hazy netherworld, neither a word-for-word recitation of Lamb’s text nor a strict dramatization. Through clever use of Andrea Bryn Bush’s minimalist set, Kitchens proves herself a blocking wizard, deftly moving her players with the elegance of a chess master from one imagined locale to another.”
- Seattle Weekly
“Kelly Kitchens adapted Lamb’s novel and served as the director as well. She brought each actor to an understated peak that horrified and satisfied the audience.”
- Northwest Adventures
“Maher is marvelous. Such an undertaking requires an outstanding, watchable, and relatable actor as Dolores, and there is no doubt that the star of this production is Jocelyn Maher. She convincingly and truthfully portrays Dolores from age 6 to age 40+. As such, she must be in virtually every scene and portray a smorgasbord of emotions. Yet, with support from a terrific cast and Kitchens' direction, she never hits a false note or overplays a moment.”
- Seattle Gay News
THE UNDERSTUDY
“Director Kelly Kitchens has done a fine job at not only keeping the characters from falling into stereotypes but also keeping the pacing of the play clipping along. And her seamless interweaving of the world of the rehearsals to the world of the play is wonderful.”
- Broadway World
BLACK COMEDY
“When physical comedy is done well it can be a beautiful thing. But good physical comedy is not easy. Fortunately for us the cast of Strawberry Theatre Workshop's production of Black Comedy are more than up to the task as they presented one of the funniest displays of physical comedy I've seen in town.”
- Broadway World
“Director Kelly Kitchens has not only assembled a stunning ensemble but also managed to direct them with spot on timing and movement and in such a way that we completely buy that they can't see a thing (even though they obviously can).”
- Broadway World
ARCADIA
“Director Kelly Kitchens enlists actors who can deliver Stoppard’s eloquently agile dialogue briskly but articulately, and transmit the nuances of emotion beneath the sparkling cascades of dialogue.”
- The Seattle Times
“For Arcadia to succeed so well on such a small-scale stage, is heartening and laudable. The chance may not come again soon to see Stoppard’s glorious play, conveyed so clearly.”
- The Seattle Times
THE CRYPTOGRAM
“Kitchens' direction of the piece is equally thoughtful and the pace she has instilled is pitch perfect.”
- Broadway World