A new play explores grief, KU basketball & groundbreaking medical research
The world premiere of ‘Unghosting the Chromosome’ will take place in Lawrence July 10-12.
What do you get when you combine a basketball player on KU’s first-ever team with his younger brother’s untimely death? The answer is “Unghosting the Chromosome,” a new play premiering in Lawrence July 10-12.
At the turn of the 20th century, University of Kansas student Walter Sutton lost his younger brother, John, to typhoid, just as John was about to enter the Naval Academy. John’s letter of acceptance arrived on the day of his funeral.
“And it just broke (Walter) up,” said playwright Daniel Born. “He decided to switch from engineering over to medicine.” Sutton’s goal was to untangle the mysteries of typhoid in hopes of eradicating the disease that killed his brother.
Instead, he uncovered how chromosomes determine physical characteristics, a landmark breakthrough that became the basis of all genetic research. “I’d never heard of the guy — nobody has — but he was pretty amazing. He developed the Boveri-Sutton Chromosome Theory on how chromosomes relate to Mendel’s work,” Born said, referencing Gregor Mendel’s mid-19th-century pea-plant experiments establishing heredity rules.
Sutton’s contributions to history stretched further: he also was a member of KU’s fledgling basketball team, which debuted in a February 3, 1899 game. (They lost 5 to 16 to the Kansas City YMCA.)
Born learned about all this from an actor friend he’d worked with, whose father, a retired anatomy professor, had attempted to write a play about Sutton. After failed efforts to get it produced, the friend asked Born if he’d take a crack at revising it. Born was intrigued, but asked to start over — “take it back to the bare bones.” He promised to credit author Stanley Nelson and his original script, “I Know Why the Yellow Dog is Yellow.” They agreed, sharing original sources, and Born got to work.
“This was a long time in the making,” Born said. “It was just right before COVID hit; it became my COVID project.”
Daniel Born graduated from KU with a philosophy degree. He has been a resident playwright with the Midwest Dramatists Center in Kansas City and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Among his plays are “The Poetry Shift,” recently produced by Southwest Theatre Productions in Austin, Texas; “Bang,” about the ill-fated wife of William Burroughs; “The Wonder Drug,” a play about recovering from mental illness; and numerous plays produced by the EMU Theatre company in Lawrence.
The production is co-directed by Born and Christie Scanlin Dobson, a regional actor-director, with Jonathan Wall stage managing and Todd Schwartz as technical director. It features Kevin Mikel (Walter Sutton), Felix McGowan (John Sutton), Gwentessa Alfie (Anna McClure), and Kai Sarwinski (Clarence McClure).
The Details
“Unghosting the Chromosome”
July 10-12, 2026, Ecumenical Campus Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. in Lawrence, Kansas
Shows take place at 7:30 p.m. July 10-11 and 2 p.m. July 12. General admission tickets are $22.13 inclusive of fees.
Learn more and purchase tickets.
Anne Welsbacher writes plays, fiction, and nonfiction. She is the Performing Arts Editor for this publication. awelsbacher.com
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