Meet Our artistic committee
Kevin King
Producing Artistic Director
Kevin King (he/him) is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Whim Productions. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Creative Writing. Kevin is a playwright-in-residence at the Midwest Dramatists Center, former playwright-in-residence in the Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency program, and a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Kevin has directed many of Whim’s shows to date, including Swimming in the Shallows (2019) and Film Classics Presents: Heaven So Far (2011). He also directs shorts in Alphabet Soup: Stories from Queer Voices. Kevin has also directed for Fishtank Theatre’s production of Every 28 Hours and Kansas City’s Project Playwright competition (2015).
His plays have appeared in the Kansas City Fringe Festival, The Barn Players’ 6x10 Short Play festival (2018), Midwest Dramatists Conference (2018), One-Minute Play Festival (2016), Fishtank Theater’s 12 Plays of Christmas (2014), and others. His short play Debating was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival. The Swallows, another of Kevin’s short plays, was selected for the 2019 William Inge Theater Festival New Play Lab. His work ranges from campy to slice-of-life realism, portrayed through a quirky, queer lens. You can check out his work at New Play Exchange.
Kevin’s acting credits include Whim’s Bad Auditions series (2014, 2015, 2016), Snowed Inn (2017), Whim’s production of After Orlando (2016), and Tradewinds Arts’ #ResistanceMatters (2019).
He lives in Kansas City, MO, with Calliope, his cat, who dislikes everyone but him.
CONTACT: kevin@whimproductions.com
Abigail Birkett
Artistic Committee Member
Abigail Birkett (she/they) is a KC-based theatre director and trauma-informed yoga instructor working toward her Master of Social Work. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab as well as Directors Lab Chicago, a Creative Capital alumna, and a graduate of both Southwestern University and the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, where she was fortunate enough to study with members of The Debate Society (New York) and members of Complicité (London). While living in Texas, she co-founded Goat Song Theatre Collective and worked with theatre companies throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including WaterTower Theatre, Undermain Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, Shakespeare Dallas, TRIBE, House Party Theatre, Shakespeare in the Bar, and New Grove Creative. Her work includes partnerships with The Dallas Museum of Art, The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and Arts Mission Oak Cliff as well as festival projects including WTFringe (2023); Kitchen Dog Theater’s Annual New Works Festival (2015, 2016, and 2017); WaterTower Theatre's 24hr Play Festival and Out of the Loop Fringe Festival (2015); the 2016 1-Minute Play Festival; and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2017).
She lives in KC with a mastermind tuxedo cat named Luna and an absurdly cuddly tabby named Klaus.
https://abigailbirkett.com/
Landan G. Stocker
Artistic Committee Member
Landan Stocker (he/him/his) was raised in rural Missouri and grew up with a love of performance art. In 2020, he graduated from the University of Arkansas with a B.A. in Theatre Performance (Honors) and moved to Kansas City soon after.
Landan was involved in several productions in college, some favorites include Assassins, A Little Night Music, Clybourne Park, and Man of La Mancha. Kansas City credits include ensemble in Something Rotten (White Theatre) and played Inspector Knight in “A Damp Dark Room Just Off The Parlor” by John Adams, which was part of Whim’s 2021 Alphabet Soup: Theater from Queer Voices.
Kyle Tichenor
Artistic Committee Member
Kyle Tichenor (he/him) was born in Topeka and grew up in Lawrence, KS. Throughout his time at Central Junior High and Free State High School, he was active in theater. He studied theatre performance at the University of Kansas, performing in multiple plays and musicals, including The Music Man, Man Equals Man, and Rumplestiltskin.
Kyle’s continued performing ever since. He’s graced the stages of multiple Community Theatres in the Lawrence and Greater Kansas City area including Theatre Lawrence (Beauty and the Beast), The Barn Players (Chicago, Titanic), Olathe Civic Theatre Association (Sense and Sensibility, Murder on the Orient Express, Is He Dead?), and City Theatre of Independence (Deathtrap). Before joining Whim’s artistic committee, Kyle was in three productions of Alphabet Soup: Theater from Queer Voices, where he played six different roles.
Austin VanWinkle
Resident Lighting Designer
Artistic Committee Member
Austin VanWinkle (he/him/his) is Whim’s Resident Lighting Designer. He graduated from William Woods University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian General Science. While completing that degree, he became heavily involved in the theatre department which led him to pursue higher education.
In 2022, Austin completed a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Design and Technology, with an emphasis in Lighting Design, at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Almost immediately after graduation, Austin was hired as the Lighting Coordinator at Lindenwood University.
Austin’s involvement with Whim began with the 2021 Alphabet Soup: Theater from Queer Voices.
Austin’s lighting career started in 2017 with a production of BINGO! The Winning Musical. Since then, some of his highlights include Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (2018), Drowning Girls (2018), Peter/Wendy (2018). While in graduate school, Austin has discovered a love for dance and has worked with a multitude of dancers and choreographers including Ronald Tice and Gary Abbott.
Austin’s acting credits include Silence (2016), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2016), Unnecessary Farce (2017), Love Minus (2017), Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (2018), Eurydice (2019), and finally Sir Slob and the Princess (2019).
Austin currently lives in St. Charles, MO with his cat, an elderly bearded dragon, and a pet crayfish, who can clone herself, named Peppercorn.
Check out Austin’s portfolio here.