The SHOUT

08/14/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗮'𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 '𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹' 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆
James Rosati's 1972 modernist sculpture was part of a larger movement across the country. With time (and a time capsule), the work has gained some respect from the city it was built for. Read the story by Sam Jack 👉 https://www.shoutwichita.com/tripodal-by-james-rosati/

08/13/2026

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: '𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯' 𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗥𝗲𝗽
“The Explorer’s Club” and “Mary Poppins” have two things in common: affectionate burlesque of the British Empire and “I Love to Laugh,” which Ed Wynn sang about in the film, and which you’ll be doing in the theater.

Nell Banjamin’s farce is not formulaic or shallow: Its wit is quick, its props abundant (animals “live” and stuffed, reproducing plants, generous bar inventory), and its physicality fresh. (Why does an Irish rebel enter via a somersault, you ask? Well, why not?)

I’ve not spent such a pleasurable two hours in quite some time.

Directed by Julie Longhofter, “The Explorer’s Club” features a collection of oddball “scientists” smug in their certainty that life in Jolly Old England will always be exactly as it is circa 1879. Britain rules the globe, women are not allowed (anywhere), and all is well. Why, even two men specializing in opposite fields — predators and prey — can be best friends.

Into the mix come shocking interlopers: a “savage” from a newly discovered village half a world away and a person of the aforementioned verboten gender. The snake and the guinea pig, well … life gets chaotic.

The ensemble cast features strong performances throughout by Hunter Bartholomew (unfortunately for Wichita, his final performance here), Holland Lee Kiser, James Earlywine, Torey Wilson, Matthew Gwinner, Jackson Dorris, Nilo Reynoso, JR Hurst, and Coleman Adams. The lavish set (Stan Longhofer) and costumes (Christy Cunningham Railsback) boast four (if I counted right) stuffed and mounted trophies, a full British naval officer uniform complete with ludicrous cap, gorgeous Victorian gowns, and a blue-skinned character with a coif reminiscent of Sideshow Bob of “Simpsons” fame (makeup and hair by Rylee Bartholomew).

Performances continue this weekend, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Learn more and purchase tickets on the ICTRep - Wichita Repertory Theater website, ictrep.org.

— Anne Welsbacher

08/08/2026

Stop by and say hi tomorrow — we'll be hanging out with the Wichita Journalism Collaborative at the Alford Branch Library from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Want to know how to earn your GED, dual enrollment, or find resources for children and more? Join us tomorrow and connect with these agencies at our Literacy News Fair! Storytime Village, Phillips Fundamental Learning Center, NexStep Alliance, Alce su Voz, IDEAS at the Kansas Leadership Center, Wichita State University TRIO Educational Opportunity Centers Program, Wichita Public Library, Wichita Public Schools and Greater Wichita YMCA and Wichita Collective Impact!

08/07/2026

Somewhere Fest is officially returning to downtown Wichita for a two-day live music and community-centric event. The lineup was released July 14 and includes country artist Bailey Zimmerman and DJ Diesel (aka Shaquille O’Neil) as headliners.

But it’s been a season of change for the festival, and not just the shift from June to September. Changes to the funding structure and partnership dynamics that brought the 2025 version of the festival to fruition left some Wichitans without jobs and others on the sidelines. At the same time, organizers promise a more operationally efficient festival that’s also more in line with the city’s musical tastes.

Click through to read the story by Kevin Kinder. 👇

Chase Koch's Somewhere Fest ended its relationship with Midtopia earlier this year, moved its festival from June to September, and added country acts to the lineup.

08/05/2026

Have you heard? The SHOUT is the newest member of the Wichita Journalism Collaborative. We're thrilled to be in community with extraordinary local journalists at eight other Wichita-based outlets. Stop by and say hi this Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Alford Branch Library. We'll have a table at the WJC's Literacy News Fair/feria de noticias y alfabetización.

08/05/2026

Every Sunday, we share local, statewide and regional culture coverage in our newsletter The Weekly SHOUT. This week's most-clicked story is about Walker's Jazz Lounge moving from Old Town Wichita to Somewhere Works. The story is by Carrie Rengers for the Wichita Eagle.

The recording studio and performance space at 235 N. Emporia is funded by Chase Koch's organization Movement Musick. Somewhere Works has an existing partnership with the Wichita State College of Fine Arts, which holds some classes there.

Walker’s Jazz Lounge is moving to the Somewhere Works space a few blocks from its current Old Town Space.

08/04/2026

Wichita is not a movie town. Even when the city is named on film, other places stand in: the “Wichitas” in 1987’s “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” and 2005’s “The Ice Harvest” are really in Illinois. That's what makes “King Kung Fu,” a zany martial arts romp shot in Wichita in 1976, such a fun watch for locals. It's now available on Blu-ray in 4K from Reel Vault.

Read the review by Anna Andersen 👇

'The unforgettable story of a Chinese gorilla who knows karate' is now available on Blu-ray in 4K.

08/03/2026

𝗜𝗻 '𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲,' 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
𝘈 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦-𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘺𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

The targets that fi****ms enthusiasts use for practice reveal a great deal about their character and intentions. Typically you point a loaded gun at a piece of paper printed with a human silhouette and concentric circles. But some gun owners train their attention on improvised targets: an empty can of spray paint, an abandoned vehicle, a tree stump, a discarded shop mannequin, even a watermelon.

“Shouting Fire,” photographer Jennifer Ray’s powerful new book, presents photographs that explore targets she discovered on back-country shooting ranges in some of the fraught landscapes of the western United States. The form and content of the book work together with a reinforcing symbiotic synergy: compact and dense as a shell casing, the photographs unfold in a coherent and descriptive sequence.

Read the review by Philip Heying 👉 https://www.shoutwichita.com/shouting-fire-jennifer-ray/

08/03/2026

𝙊𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨
Red tape, red flag, seeing red, painting the town red. What does it mean to represent the color red? The Lawrence Arts Center invites artists to submit artwork that relates to the subject/color “red.”

The submission fee is $25 for up to three works, and jury Travis Millard will award three prizes totaling $1,750. Deadline: September 25. https://lawrenceartscenter.org/event/red-juried-exhibition/

The Derby Arts Council at the Derby Public Library is accepting submissions of original 2D and 3D works for a veterans art show at the Derby Public Library. Exhibition dates are August 31-October 22. Deadline: August 4.

Resonance, a regional Burning Man event in southeast Kansas, is accepting submissions for art installations for its 2026 gathering September 17-21. Grants of up to $500 cover the cost of the materials for the project. Submissions are now open, and funds are awarded on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted. Final deadline: August 15. https://www.resonanceburn.com/art

08/03/2026

‘𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯’ 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗥𝗲𝗽’𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲-𝟮𝟳 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻
A woman in the esteemed Explorers Club? Preposterous! A foreigner slapping Queen Victoria? Perish the thought!

The ICTRep - Wichita Repertory Theater company opens its 2026-27 season August 7 with “The Explorers Club,” a satire lampooning the 19th-century colonialism of the British Empire. The show, by the lyricist for “Legally Blonde” and “Mean Girls,” opened off-Broadway in 2013 and received an Outer Critics Circle Award for outstanding off-Broadway play.

ICTRep’s ensemble cast includes Coleman Adams, Hunter Bartholomew, Jackson Dorris, James Earlywine, Matthew Gwinner, JR Hurst, Holland Lee Kiser, Nilo Reynoso, and Torey Wilson. Julie Longhofer directs.

“The Explorers Club” runs for two weekends August 7-16 at Wichita State’s Welsbacher Theatre at the Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th St. General admission tickets are $38 with discounts for seniors, veterans, students, and audience members under 30. Learn more and buy tickets at ictrep.org.

— 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳

Pictured from left: Cast members Holland Lee Kiser, Hunter Bartholomew, James Earlywine, and Nilo Reynoso. (Courtesy photo by Jill Harper/ICTRep)