Stage Write

  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 ...

As one might be able to guess from the title, The Mutilated is not a holly jolly Christmas story. The Tennessee Williams play is set in New Orleans and follows two frenemies who cross paths on Christmas Eve. The pair, Trinket and Celeste, are both broken souls with their own secrets. Gigi Jennewein plays Trinket, a wealthy woman with an unknown mutilation. She's fragile and desperate for affection. Celeste is her polar opposite. Played by Beverly Roche, the shoplifting alcoholic is brash and constantly angling to manipulate those around her.  Originally written as a one-act comedy, the show plays more as an ode to loneliness. It’s split by a short intermission and the second act wraps up so quickly that it feels a bit abrupt. The characters feel similar to those found in many of Williams' plays, though the plot doesn't pack as big of a punch in comparison. It's fascinating to see the damaged people trying to find a way forward, but I wish I'd had more time to...

  There's a new theatre company in town and its inaugural production is not to be missed. Summit Performance Indianapolis, co-founded by Lauren Briggeman and Georgeanna Smith Wade, opened Silent Sky at the Phoenix Theatre this past weekend. The play by Lauren Gunderson tells the true story of the astronomer Henrietta Leavitt who worked at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s. It is an astonishing piece of theatre.  Carrie Schlatter plays Henrietta Leavitt, the driving force in the powerful production. With each breath she takes she exudes curiosity and a fierce drive. Her passion for her work is infectious. In her new role Henrietta has two female co-workers. Molly Garner is the no nonsense Annie Cannon. She is the straight woman to Gigi Jennewein's Williamina who fills her scenes, and their small work space, with a delightful sense of levity. Adam Tran is their colleague Peter Shaw, who finds himself just as fascinated with Henrietta as the audience is.  ...

When I first saw the Phoenix Theatre’s production of " The Lieutenant of Inishmore " in 2008 I loved the unique feel of the Irish black comedy. The theatre’s current show “The Cripple of Inishmaan” is by the same playwright, Martin McDonagh, and has a similar tone. Set on the Aran Islands in 1934, we see the chaos caused when a Hollywood director visits to make a film. There’s a cruelty in small towns. Everyone knows everyone else’s business. They’ve all grown up together, so there’s a comfort level that tends to ignore privacy. No one flinches in calling someone a degrading nickname or referring to an embarrassing moment in their past, because it’s all common knowledge. It’s that very familiarity that can be so claustrophobic to residents. Nathan Robbins is our title character, Cripple Billy, and he feels more suffocated than anyone. Each member of the excellent cast adds their own eccentric layer to the rich fabric of the community. Ryan O’Shea is the bras...

Billy, a deaf man, is part of a large opinionated family. They are intellectual snobs ruled by a condescending patriarch, Christopher, and his empathetic wife Ruth. Their three adult children have all moved back home after frustrating turns in their own lives. They bustle about the set, a crowded but cozy home filled to the brim with books and knickknacks, all lost in their own problems. Billy (Andrew Martin) has spent his whole life surrounded by the angst and chaos of his family. He's become used to a world in which he is a spectator but rarely a participant. Then he meets Sylvia, a lovely young woman on the verge of losing her hearing. He begins to question his role in the world and the way he interacts with others. Billy and Sylvia (Ryan O’Shea) have wonderful chemistry on stage. O’Shea is particularly good as a young woman trying to come to terms with a massive change in her world. She conveys the mixture of anger and frustration in such a sincere way and it's easy to fe...