Stage Write

On the night of April 4, 1968 Bobby Kennedy was scheduled to give a campaign speech in Indianapolis. Instead, he announced the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to a stunned crowd. In this world premier play by James Still the audience sees the events of that night unfold through the eyes of one small family.   At the heart of the play is a married couple, John Henry and Addie, transplants from Kentucky, raising their two kids who are Hoosiers by birth. I loved their interactions. From the first moment they made you feel as though they were a family you knew, bickering and teasing in equal measures. Tracy N. Bonner's performance as Addie was particularly moving. She has a complexity, as a mother, wife, neighbor, and a woman, and she conveyed that beautifully. The generational difference of our characters is one of the most interesting parts of the play. This heartbreaking news, along with the impact of the Vietnam war and the racial struggles the country is facing all e...

It’s not often that you can go to a play with no preconceived notion and have your socks off. That was my experience at "What I learned in Paris" at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The play, set in Atlanta in 1973, deals with issues of race, gender, and romance. And while that sounds like heavy fare, it manages to be delightfully funny and engaging. The playwright Pearl Cleage’s dialogue and farce-like cast of characters popping in and out of a single apartment lends a sense of humor to each scene. The plot opens on the night that Atlanta elects its first African-American mayor, Maynard Jackson. Some members of the campaign have met to celebrate the victory. The next day the appearance of one man's ex-wife, Evie, throws everything into a tizzy. She drops truth bombs and stirs things up as she waltzes through the city. Evie, played by Erika Lavonn, is one of the most charismatic characters I've come across in years. She's sexy and full of energy....