By John Lyle Belden

Never a company to shy away from dark material, Catalyst Repertory presents “M,” a new play based on an old movie, written and directed by Tristan Ross. The original, by legendary German film pioneer Fritz Lang in 1931, was a predecessor to the genre of film noir. Being Lang’s first picture with sound, he innovated with it in ways that still inspire today’s filmmakers.

Ross captures the feeling of entrapment in a black-and-white world with the audience on three sides of the black-box Everwise Stage (formerly Indy Eleven) surrounded by heavy dark curtains. Entering and exiting this space feels like a labyrinth. Actors’ costumes are in blacks, greys and browns, with among a spare few props bright red balloons for effective contrast.

Voices literally surround us with some lines delivered by obscured actors behind the curtains or prerecorded. Little girls are puppets (provided by Beverly Roche) with vague innocent faces, ethereally voiced offstage by Kristin Watson Heintz. Technical director Arden Tiede and lighting designer Tim Dick assist with the noir effects, including fog and image projections, with graphic assistance by Catalyst founder Casey Ross.

As in the original story, by Lang with Thea von Harbou, there is a serial killer, known as “the Midnight Man,” attacking young girls. Ten have been brutally murdered when Mrs. Beckmann (Maria Meschi) discovers her Elsie is missing. Among the last to encounter the child alive was a friendly blind man (Craig Kemp) who we discover is a homeless former lawyer who manages through barter to get balloons to sell to neighborhood children. Police Chief Lohman (James Mannan) and Detective Grodin (Kirk Fields) find an unseeing “witness” only the beginning of their frustrations, as practically no clues are found and suspect leads go nowhere.

Meanwhile, the criminal community has grown frustrated with massively increased police activity and a fearful population cutting deeply into their “business.” Plus, even hardened criminals have no patience with child murder. Thus, one of their leaders, Breaker (Tristan Ross) leads an underworld search for the Midnight Man, with the help of thief Frank (Jeff Stratfer) and club/brothel owner Sharp (Austin Hookfin), with the Balloon Vendor working the “invisible” street people.

Another genre-inspiring aspect of this story is that the audience sees the perpetrator early on, one of the early plots about a killer’s descending madness and the other characters’ struggle to find and stop him. Normal-looking John Beckert (J. Charles Weimer) is locked in a cycle of obsession and predation. He acts quickly once a random potential victim is sighted, this being both a sign of dangerous impulsivity and part of what makes him impossible to predict.

However, eventually good detective work, and a vital clue realized by the balloon man, lead cops and crooks each to close in on Beckert. Which will get to him first, and what will “justice” be when they do?

The story is appropriately taut, tense and not as predictable as you would think, even as events feel inevitable. The acting is outstanding. Meschi, a mother herself, compellingly communicates the horror and desperation of Beckmann’s grief and need for answers and resolution. Kemp easily portrays his blindness without any broad gestures, his eyes looking nowhere as he “sees” with his hearing and speaks with clear voice to ensure understanding. Fields seems to toy with stereotype, at first an ineffective cop but proving his worth as Grodin realizes the right details to give his attention. Mannan gives us the Chief who is both police and bureaucrat, under frustrating pressure on both sides. Our underworld trio effectively play close to type – Stratfer’s Frank jittery nervous, Hookfin’s Sharp ever suave, and Ross’s Breaker deeply intimidating. (In the movie, the latter’s character is a safecracker, here he seems to be an enforcer; either way, his leather gloves are apropos.)

For his part, Weimer gives us an emotionally driven performance that gives insight into Beckert’s disordered mind and personal horror. This “monster” is given neither justification nor supernatural menace; as is noted during the search, he is “a man, like one of us.”

Consider the title to stand for Midnight Man, or “Murderer” as Lang did, or even the Roman numeral as the killer states “there will be a thousand more” if he is not caught. Regardless, find Catalyst’s “M,” with performances through July 7 at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at indyfringe.org.