Stage Write

  Welcome to Big Cherry where the dedicated city council members are ready and waiting to plan the annual heritage festival. The American Lives Theatre production of Tracy Letts’ one-act play “The Minutes” is on stage now at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre.  The show has a slow start as the meeting we’re watching is almost too realistic. It hits close to home if you’ve ever attended small-town meetings with petty conflicts and private grievances. It took me back to my years as a daily reporter covering the board of zoning appeals, and town councils.  Robert’s Rules of Order go out the window when blood begins to boil. When Charles Goad (Mr. Carp) appears the plot kicks into high gear. His role looms large in the story even before he arrives. As the catalyst for the action, he’s perfect, both passionate and sincere. Up until that point, it feels a bit like an awkward waiting game as Mr. Peel (Josh Ramsey) sits on the sidelines desperate for answers.     R...

American Lives Theatre (ALT) closes its strong season with Predictor at the Phoenix Theatre. On the surface, it’s the story of one woman’s fight, but underneath that, the heart of the play lies in the friendship, determination, generational legacy, and so much more that help drive Meg Crane. In the 1960s she invented the home pregnancy test. This is her story and it should’ve been told decades ago. I’m so grateful to playwright Jennifer Blackmer and ALT for sharing it with us now.   The show moves fast with quick scene changes and wheels on every desk and chair that makes up the set. There is an incredible crew of individuals, from the set designer to director Bridget Haight that make this whirlwind piece possible. The supporting six cast members flip between their many roles in a matter of seconds. A lab worker, roommate, mother, coworker, the list goes on and this hard-working cast keeps pace! Brittany Magee takes on the role of Crane. She is passionate and infuses the performanc...

  Empathy is often in short supply when it comes to how we feel about people on the opposite side of the political divide. Heroes of the Fourth Turning, a Pulitzer-prize finalist, explores that tricky topic in an intense and memorable way. The show is perfectly in line with American Lives Theatre’s mission to provide provocative and entertaining plays to Indy. With a cast of five people, director Andrew Kramer tackles a difficult premise. Former students and friends from a Catholic college in Wyoming reunite to celebrate an old professor. Late at night the talk turns to politics and even though it’s a very conservative group, emotions run hot as the lines that divide them become evident. I loved how each new pairing offered a unique point of view. Individuals popped in and out of the house allowing for conversations to shift and new tensions to appear as they challenged each other’s beliefs. The set, designed by Daniel McCullough, is incredible. The IndyFringe’s normal layout is ...

  What matters most, the creative process or just the facts? That’s the question debated in The Lifespan of a Fact, on stage now at the Phoenix Theatre. In this latest production from American Lives Theatre, audiences can dive deep into journalistic integrity. This Indiana premiere is a firecracker of a show. It clocks in at less than 90 minutes with no intermission and not a moment is wasted. Director Chris Saunders keeps the momentum going between each scene with tight dialogue or occasionally just a pointed look. The tension is taut and the minutes fly by. Despite the serious subject matter, the show is infused with humor. As a magazine staff works towards a tight deadline and a fact checker begins to see some cracks in a well-written article on suicide, the fuse is lit for a confrontation. Eva Patton is the authoritative, no-nonsense editor trying to wrangle a writer’s ego and an intern’s black-and-white worldview. Joe Wagner is all earnestness and naïveté as Jim the intern. ...