Editor
Keolanani Kinghorn is from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, currently pursuing a PhD in Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Utah. Her work bridges academic scholarship and theatre criticism, reflecting a passion for performance as both art and cultural archive.
She began reviewing theatre in 2022 with Front Row Reviewers. In 2023, she launched The Rhetorical Review, her own theatre-reviewing platform, and in 2024 joined Utah Theatre Bloggers. Her reviews span a wide range of productions—from Broadway-caliber performances at Tuacahn, Eccles Theater, and touring stages beyond Utah, to groundbreaking world premieres with Plan-B Theatre Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, and new works at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival.
Her writing has been featured by Utah Shakespeare Festival, Pioneer Theatre Company, Plan-B Theatre Company, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Wasatch Theatre Company, and Voodoo Theatre Company. Her review of Utah Shakespeare Festival’s The Tempest (2022) appeared in Shakespeare Bulletin (Spring 2023), and her article “Hamlet in Cinema: Oedipus Lives On” was published in Quidditas. In addition, she has served for the past two years as part of Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Words Cube feedback crew, supporting the development of new plays.
Read more about Keolanani’s professional development in her Curriculum Vitae.
Recent Feature
- “A Spirit to Resist”: Women’s Non-Traditional Casting and/as Feminist Intervention in The Taming of the Shrew by Emily Pickett (Wooden O Symposium, Queen’s University).
Read the full article here.
Selected Reviews (Front Row Reviewers & Utah Theatre Bloggers)
Highlights from her work as a theatre critic include:
- Proof – Fellowship Theater
- The Big Quiet (World Premiere)—PYGmalion Theatre Company
- Tarzan (starring Broadway’s Josh Strickland) – Tuacahn
- Shucked (World Premiere) – Pioneer Theatre Company
- Whitelisted – Salt Lake Acting Company
- The Flying Dutchman – Utah Opera
- Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde – Wasatch Theatre Company
- Near Mint – PYGmalion Theatre Company (World Premiere)
- To Saints and Stars – Good Company Theatre
- Matchstick Girl—Weber State University (World Premiere)
Site Information
For readers, contributors, and collaborators:
- Publication Policies — Details on submission guidelines, editorial values, and citation expectations for The Rhetorical Review.
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If you have questions about submissions or accessibility, please contact editor.rhetoricalreview@gmail.com.