Preserves: A Kansas Story (A Staged Reading)

Preserves: A Kansas Story

A staged reading of an original screenplay

Come join us in person for an intimate and engaging experience as we bring to life “Preserves: A Kansas Story.” This original screenplay takes you on a heartfelt journey through the heartland, filled with rich characters and heartfelt moments. Don’t miss this unique chance to see the story unfold right before your eyes!

Preserves is an independent feature film directed by Micah Ariel Watson, writer of Canaan. The film follows a dancer and an ex-offender whose romance unearths a century-old secret buried in their small town, echoing places like Nicodemus, KS. At its heart, Preserves is a love story set against the quilted backdrop of Kansas’s rich African American history, woven with the legacies of the Exoduster Movement, the rise of the Pentecostal movement, and Micah’s own family’s story. This film will honor the rich midwestern land that Micah’s family has called home for more than a century.

We are proud to partner with The Kansas African American Museum for a staged reading of the Preserves script. This gathering invites the community to encounter Kansas history in a living, intimate way, and to step into the early life of a film we believe will become one of the state’s cultural gems. The evening will include a talkback with the filmmaker, as well as a screening of a proof-of-concept short filmed in Cottonwood Falls, KS.

In Preserves, the protagonist discovers the power of archives and communal memory. It feels only right, then, that the Preserves team and TKAAM come together to remind Kansas of the beauty and depth of its own history.