Stage Write

By Melissa Hall   James Still, the playwright-in-residence at the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT), was announced as the 2020 Indiana Authors Awards Drama Winner for his trilogy The Jack Plays. The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award winners receive an award made from Indiana steel and limestone, a $5,000 cash prize, and the opportunity to make a $500 gift to an Indiana public library. The Jack Plays is a series of three plays featuring members of the same family, The Jack Plays travel from a Vermont Thanksgiving dinner, to the canals of Venice, and into a CIA operation in Yemen. Still’s ability to give his characters’ depth in all situations allows audiences to connect with the family and their struggles with grief and identity.   The IRT is the only theatre that has produced all three productions: The House that Jack Built (2012), Miranda (2017), and Appoggiatura (2018). Still has served as their first and only playwright-in-residence for 23 years. He has wri...

 Music and plot are so closely intertwined in Appoggiatura, that you can't mention one without the other. Even the title reflects this, it means: a grace note performed before a note of the melody and falling on the beat. The play, part of a trilogy written by playwright-in-residence James Still, follows three travelers on a sojourn through lovely Venice. On their journey they wander the canals finding pieces of their hearts as they go. The city feels like one of the main characters in the story. As one actor notes, "Venice is as old and broken as the rest of us.". Like most of Still's work, the show is not driven by plot, but instead it focuses on the characters' interaction and self-discovery. There's Helen (Susan Pellegrino) whose forced optimism hides the tender memories of her own honeymoon in Venice. Helen's granddaughter Sylvie (Andrea San Miguel), for whom the confusing maze of Venice reflects her current feelings about life and lov...

One man, three fiancés, one Paris apartment; what could possibly go wrong? The Indiana Repertory Theatre presents Boeing Boeing, a farce set in the 1960s and complete with all the hallmarks of the genre. The three women are all flight attendants from different countries.  Bernard (Matt Schwader) is a charming man whose selfish view of the world leads him to believe that dating three women, who all think they're the only one, is the perfectly acceptable. When his old friend Robert arrives from Wisconsin the show really gets moving. Robert (Chris Klopatek) is bumbling and sweet and completely overwhelmed by this unusual situation. His naïveté pairs well with Schwader's worldly confidence. The essential element of any farce set is plenty of doors! The trendy '60s set, complete with period furniture and art, certainly covers that criteria. With seven doorways, the characters have plenty of options for dramatic entrances and exits. A porthole window and balcony add ev...