Stage Write

Do you think you know the story of Frankenstein? Do you picture a green-skinned creature with bolts in his neck? The true story is less about the monster than it is about its creator and this adaptation looks closely at the writer behind the story. It's a tale of man's hubris and catastrophic guilt and how very human those things are. In this Indiana Repertory Theatre production,  a cast of five makes up a group of young artists sharing their invented gothic tales on a stormy night. They then double as the characters in the story as it unfolds. They work well together, slipping easily between their respective roles. Mary Shelley, the writer who poured her own grief into the tragedy of Frankenstein is played beautifully by Rebecca Marie Hurd. Telling the story from her point of view turns it into a powerful mirror of her pain and brilliance. Hurd is the heart of the story even when not on stage. It's her struggle to search for "life in the living and not in the dead...

 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...