Stage Write

The Indiana Repertory Theatre opens its 44 th season with an American classic. The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous portrait of the dark side of the American dream. His novel captures the futility of spending your life longing to capture an illusion. In Simon Levy’s adaptation the play brings that heartache to life in all its glittering intensity. We see the story unfold through the youthful eyes of Nick Caraway (Zach Kenney). In the midst of the jazz era he moves to New York City and connects with his cousin and the wealthy elite in her crowd. He’s in awe of his new friends, but also troubled by the strange lack of morality they all seem to embrace. Hillary Clemens portrayal of Daisy Buchanan brought something to the role that I’d missed in other film portrayals. For me, her struggle had more depth and felt more real. She’s a character that’s often depicted as shallow and selfish with little else to offer, but Clemens instills her with a relatable disillusionment....

  When it comes to art, every person who views it can see something different. Even a simple color can mean a variety of things, stirring memories or emotions that bring on diverse reactions. The Indiana Repertory Theatre’s “Red” is a two-man play that explores the topic of art in all of its forms.     Abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko hires a young man to help in his studio in the 1950s. The two very different men give us two distinct viewpoints of the world of art. We see things through the eyes of the seasoned artist who has already found success. Then we see the point of view of his assistant, who shows joy and enthusiasm for everything around him. The old and the new come to a head as Rothko pushes the novice harder and harder, and the conflict leaves them both raw.     The performers themselves bring such power to the show with their portrayal of the two men both tortured in their own ways. Henry Woronicz plays the cantankerous Ma...