Stage Write

Every theatre is unique and the shows that they produce there reflect that diversity. I’m grateful Indy has so many great ones to choose from. There were some wonderful shows in 2017 and here’s a list of my personal favorites. Make sure you keep an eye on these theaters in 2018! 1)  J. Eyre: A New Musical Adaptation - EclecticPond Theatre Company 2) The Originalist - Indiana Repertory Theatre  3) A View from the Bridge - American Players Theatre  4) Kinky Boots - Broadway Across America  5) The Great Bike Race - Theatre on the Square  6) Richard III - First Folio Productions & Catalyst Repertory at the IndyFringe Theatre 7) Ring of Fire - Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre  8) Elemeno Pea - Indy Actors Playground   9) Drankspeare: Hamlet - EclecticPond Theatre Company

  From the moment Matt Anderson takes the stage, his seething and scheming Richard III demands your full attention. It's a role that would be easy to over act, but instead Anderson's portrayal is raw and visceral. He has frequently popped up in supporting roles over the years, but this play gives him a chance to stretch his wings and show what he can do. He is mesmerizing as the simpering villain. Under Glenn Dobbs’ direction, some of the simplest moments are the most powerful. There's a scene where the two ill-fated nephews grasp hands, and that simple gesture conveys so much emotion.   The set is simple, consisting of only a few chairs or benches. The audience surrounds the stage on three sides and the cast makes the most of the intimate space.   Christina Howard’s plays both Lady Anne and Lord Grey, but it’s her performance as the grieving widow that is particularly powerful. She and Allison Clark Reddick (playing Queen Elizabeth) are both beautiful studies o...

  In a city that rarely sees a production of Shakespeare without an easily recognizable name, the EclecticPond Theatre Company (ETC) has become a welcome respite. The group, which was founded in 2010, has embraced some of the Bard’s lesser-known works, with productions like “The Comedy of Errors” and “Shakespeare Wrote What? and “10x10.” Now, about to close its third season, ETC decided to tackle something big.   Their latest endeavor is the most ambitious to date, “The War of the Roses” covers eight of Shakespeare’s histories using on eight actors. The shows will be spaced over the course of four weekends with different batches shown on different days. Audience members will have the opportunity to see the shows all in one day, two at a time or four at a time. This unique experience, which has been in the works for more than a year, begins in June. The cast and crew are excited to see how this new challenge unfolds. There are three directors sharing the responsibilit...

Closing out NoExit Performance’s 2012/13 season is a unique 90 minute drama. Adapted and directed by Michael Burke, the show is a retelling of Macbeth, but instead of Scottish kings and a fight for the crown, our main characters are all patients in a mental hospital. Using the existing eeriness of an old school that’s been transformed into an office complex, the production takes advantage of its location. As the audience makes its way into an old classroom and settles into the seats the patients are already stumbling around muttering to themselves. From that moment you know the title of the play, This Is Not Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is definitely true. As the story unfolds we hear well-known lines like “Out damn spot” and “something wicked this way comes” being spoken from the mouths of nurses and mad men. Macbeth (Matthew Goodrich) is a semi-catatonic patient rambling nonsense when we first meet him. As he becomes the troubled murderer audiences have been fascinated with...