The Kansas Collection is a 10-chapter immersive theatre show by Los Angeles' The Speakeasy Society loosely based on the Land of Oz books. It ran from 2016 to 2019.
Set after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy has left Oz in the care of the Scarecrow. Unfortunately, the new king quickly led to the fall of Oz rather than unifying it like he had intended. There's now civil unrest in Oz to the point where a rebellion is trying to take down the new king.
The Kansas Collection provides examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Before the Wizard, King Pastoria battled against Mombi and the Wicked Witches for Oz. Pastoria hid his daughter Ozma. In Oz canon, the Wizard stole Pastoria's throne and gave his daughter to the petty sorceress Mombi.
- Adaptational Badass:
- General Jinjur is a part of an elite military faction named REVOLT. Unlike in the book, she's played seriously.
- Glinda used to be an Actual Pacifist but she's since changed views to the train of thought that sometimes blood needs to be shed. She's much more proactive and physical than in the books.
- Ozma uses her god-like powers.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Scarecrow is a mad king who is causing the downfall of the kingdom.
- Ozma is the end villain. This is later subverted when it turns out there is both a "good" and a "bad" Ozma.
- Adaptation Name Change: The "Army of Revolt" from The Marvelous Land of Oz is renamed "REVOLT".
- Alliterative Family: Phoebe and Phil are two siblings.
- Alternate Universe: Oz is set in an alternate universe from Earth. Near the end of the show Ozma creates a portal to merge the two.
- Darker and Edgier: The Kansas Collection is an adult-aimed derivative of the Oz books. It has a lot of violence, cursing, and dark themes. Unlike in the books, people can die in Oz.
- Freudian Excuse: Ozma's bitterness and trust issues stem from the loss of her father. She feels abandoned and angry that her father died in a Heroic Sacrifice and left her in a dimensional rift, with no clue how to escape, for years.
- Gender Flip: The Cowardly Lion is female instead of male.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Ozma plans on taking over various worlds as a goddess.
- The Mole: In the second chapter, you play a member of the royal militia who must infiltrate the resistance in Patchwork.
- Parental Abandonment: Ozma's mother was an immortal who left Oz long ago. Her father Pastoria was later killed. In the end chapter, Ozma mentions going to find her mother.
- The Prophecy: Ages ago, King Pastoria died in a Heroic Sacrifice against several of evil witches. Before he died, he hid his half-fairy daughter Ozma away. It's said that Ozma will return again, take her rightful place as queen, and bring peace to Oz.
- La Résistance: In Patchwork, there's a resistance to try and take down the king.
- Retro Universe: Oz largely looks like it's set in the 1940s, but Earth is in in the 2010s.
- Secret Handshake: The resistance has a secret handshake that you can learn in Chapter 1.
