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...

  Miranda is a CIA operative working in Yemen in the current upperstage production at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Written by IRT's playwright-in-residence James Still, the show is the third play in a trilogy he created. The first play, The House that Jack Built premiered at the IRT in 2012. The second play, Appoggiatura, is part of the theatre's 2017/18 season. Each play works as a stand alone, but they deal with a single family and a tragedy that has shaped their lives.  At its heart Miranda is about identity. The titular character is strong-willed and stubborn. The only thing fluid about her is the constant shift in her public persona. She goes by four different names in the short time we have with her. Her identity is shaped by her work and family.When her faith in the identity she's created is shaken, she begins to question everything.  Jennifer Coombs embodies the broken but brash Miranda. Her layered performance captures the troubled spy's inner turm...

The IRT is thrilled to announce the 201 6 /1 7 Indianapolis season. Season tickets are now on sale now.   The Three Musketeers Adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas by Catherine Bush September 20 – October 15 The IRT opens its season with The Three Musketeers , which tells the story of an eager young lad from the provinces who arrives in Paris to join the king’s guard. He finds intrigue, love and plenty of crossed swords. The Three Musketeers is a legendary tale of danger and daring, royalty and romance.   Finding Home: Indiana at 200 A collaboration from writers across the state October 18 – November 13 The world premiere of Finding Home: Indiana at 200 delves into Indiana’s beloved icons and hidden gems, the celebrated and the scandalous, with a bicentennial collection created by writers from all over the state. Featuring songs by Hoosier singer-songwriter Tim Grimm, this multifaceted look at Indiana’s life and times mixes music and history, ...