Month: October 2025

Brooks comedy comes ‘Alive!’ at ATI

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By John Lyle Belden

One of the cool perks of being Associate Artistic Director of Actors Theatre of Indiana for Darrin Murrell is that he gets to direct the incredibly fun musical, “Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein,” adapted by Brooks from his classic comedy film with Thomas Meehan. All songs are also by Brooks, except for the famous scene with Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

Murrell was overjoyed to have Ben Asaykwee in the title role, as well as Craig Underwood as the Monster, both adept at the necessary physical comedy. Asaykwee’s resemblance to Gene Wilder from the movie is less an impersonation than a reminder that both seem to have been touched by the same muse, hilariously delivering bluster, intelligence, and mischief, capable of being simultaneously the romantic lead and a slapstick clown.

One doesn’t have to have seen the film to follow this show, or have more than a rudimentary knowledge of the Frankenstein legend (Brooks’ approach was more a tribute to Universal Pictures monsters than the Mary Shelley novel). Movie fans will recognize many scenes and characters, though.

Professor of brain science Frederick Frankenstein (Asaykwee) – pronounced “fronk-en-steen” – discovers he has inherited his infamous grandfather’s castle in Transylvania. He goes there to settle his estate, met at the train station by servant Igor (John Vessels, Jr.), an odd man with a migrating back hump who has hired an eager young assistant, Inga (Sophie Jones), for his new master. At the castle, we meet horse-frighteningly eccentric housekeeper Frau Blucher (Julie Lyn Barber). Finding the laboratory and his grandfather’s notes, Frederick insists he won’t repeat any abominable and dangerous experiments – until, of course, he finds the right body and brain.

Meanwhile, there is concern in the village that a new Dr. Frankenstein is in residence. Inspector Kemp (Eric Olson), whose previous encounter with a reanimated creature literally cost him an arm and a leg, is determined to keep such events from happening again.

Frederick’s fashion-forward fiancé Elizabeth (Megan Arrington-Marks) will also arrive, just as hijinks get into high gear. 

As in the film, the Monster (Underwood) stumbles upon a Hermit (Adam B. Shapiro) who is blind and lonely, but he does get a song.

Other roles are covered by James Garrett Hill, Drew Kempin, JoBeth Hilton, Hannah Boswell and Natalie Fischer, with Emily Chrzanowski on hand as understudy.

Few frights, but a lot of laughs and double-entendres in Brooks’ bawdy style, with a few asides taking aim at popular monster-movie tropes. This being a “horror” show with song and dance numbers, indulging in silliness fits the milieu perfectly.

Vessels has fun with his character, delivering a nice homage to the late Marty Feldman with a bit of his own flair. Olson, well disguised by Kemp’s facial hair and costume, embodies the character perfectly for maximum comic effect. Jones’s Inga is winsome as the sidekick who is always smarter than she lets on, caring enough to let distracted Frederick catch up to her true affections. Barber nicely menaces and deadpans as Blucher, contrasted with the wild emoting over her “boyfriend.”  Arrington-Marks gives the full measure of self-obsessed Elizabeth, as well as her change of heart.

Even when dangerous, Underwood as the Monster doesn’t come across as monstrous – just a big guy (with Abbie Normal’s brain) very confused at waking up from the dead. Also, fire bad.

Nathan Perry is musical director; choreography is by Carol Worcel; and Kevin Casey is stage manager. The castle scenic design is by Jay Ganz (note the gargoyles), with props designed by Christian Condra.

Performances of “Young Frankenstein” run through Nov. 9 in the intimate confines of The Studio Theater at the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. For info and tickets, go to atistage.org or thecenterpresents.org.

Macabre musical brings ‘Ripper’ to the stage

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By John Lyle Belden

“Funny, it takes a murder for anyone to notice we passed this way.”

This lament is sung by the women mostly known from their tragic fates in “Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Musical,” by Steven Bergman and Christopher DiGrazia, presented by Carmel Apprentice Theatre, directed by Jake Williams.

This version of the well-told blend of history and legend stands apart for several reasons. It is mostly sung-through like an operetta, and Jack himself (played by Leo Milletary) frequently takes center stage. Who – among the dozens of suspects proposed by investigators, historians, and countless enthusiasts – is he? The musical gives an interesting theory (new to us), which I’ll leave for you to discover.

The story follows the people whom we do know, including the five most-known Ripper victims: Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols (Kate Knoll), Annie Chapman (Hannah Smith), Elizabeth Stride (Ella Owens), Catherine Eddowes (Cassie Scalzi), and Mary Jane Kelly (Reagan Nagel). Investigating the murders are Inspector Frederick Abberline (Mac Williams), assisted by Dr. Rees Ralph Llewellyn (Duane Leatherman), with Cameron Kaufman as the policeman on duty. A pesky chorus of Gentlemen of the Press (C. Leroy Delph, Tim West, and Kat Moore) are determined to print the facts, even if they have to make them up. Marissa Hassie plays the barmaid at The Ten Bells, a tavern where the doomed women all knew one another.

It is 1888 in foggy, filthy London and Jack is writing “The Story of the Century” in poor women’s blood. After the first falls, a “Merry Maid” presumes she won’t be so foolish – and her body is found next.  Knowing they should be cautious, the next two still can’t help being defiant and fatalistic. Meanwhile, Mary Kelly – the youngest and most mysterious (her life history still confounds Ripperologists) – knows more than she lets on.

The CAT (performing at The Cat, naturally) is a program that welcomes all levels of experience. Milletary, a local musician, makes an impressive theatrical debut. Williams, a familiar face in local community theatre, ably expresses the frustration known to dog Abberline during and long after the Whitechapel murders, with a measure of empathy. The women are equal measure charming and feisty; this especially comes out in their songs, such as “Stride’s Song (Life is Short),” with its take on the “and then there were none” nursery rhyme. In contrast to the fear felt by the ladies, the Gentlemen of the Press are practically giddy with excitement as “The Weekly London Murders” continue to sell papers.

Williams is also music director, with choreography by Maureen Hiner-Akins, and Kellyn Johnson is stage manager.

Performances resume Halloween weekend, Friday through Sunday (Oct. 31-Nov. 2) at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, just south of Carmel’s Main Street Arts & Design District. Get tickets at thecat.biz.

Southbank ‘Crucible’: It’s not the witches we should fear

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By John Lyle Belden

In times of turmoil, people turn to faith either for hope or, too often, to look for monsters. Such was 1692 in Massachusetts Colony, when the blending of the Puritan church and state led to tragic hysteria. Such also was the 1950s, when the Red Scare inspired playwright Arthur Miller to look back to America’s genuine witch hunt to give us “The Crucible.”

In 2025, with political chaos and crisis churning daily, Southbank Theatre mounts a production of Miller’s play with an incredibly talented and dedicated cast. The period script with a more contemporary look bridges these eras, emphasizing this story’s relevance.   

Mostly true to the historical events, the play begins with girls engaged in a mesmerizing, mysterious dance. The Rev. Parris (Doug Powers) happens upon them, and in the shock of being caught in such forbidden activity – the dancing alone being punishable – his young daughter Betty (Ellie Richart) falls unconscious. Parris is furious, not just at what appeared to be a secret rite with some participants possibly naked, but more that his slave Tituba (Kayla Bush) was leading it and his niece and ward Abigail Williams (Hannah Embree) was involved.

Word quickly spreads around the village of Salem, including rumors of witchcraft. Occult expert Rev. John Hale (J. Charles Weimer) is called in to bring calm, but instead he sees signs of the Devil at work. When pressed for an explanation, Tituba fears for her life and tells the men what they want to hear. Arrests, interrogation, trials – and finally, executions – will follow.

Farmer John Proctor (Brian G. Hartz) tries to stay uninterested; however, he had recently had an affair with Abigail, who feels she should take the place of his wife Elizabeth (Morgan Morton) and lists her as an accomplice in her “confession” to witchcraft (giving names being a necessary step to avoid hanging). Also, the Proctors’ servant Mary Warren (Liz Carrier) has been attending and testifying at the court hearings.

We also meet Thomas and Ann Putnam (Darin Richart and Afton Shepard), wealthy landowners with both financial (property of witches is seized and sold) and spiritual (most of their children died in infancy) interest in goings-on. Francis Nurse (James Mannan) finds his wife, the midwife Rebecca (Adrienne Reiswerg) accused. Giles Corey (David Mosedale) likewise sees his innocent inquiry about his own wife jeopardizing their lives. The “bewitched” girls include Susanna Walcott (Mariah Rae Pearson) and the Putnams’ servant Mercy Lewis (Lauren Lotzow).

Director Eric Bryant plays Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, the lead magistrate, assisted by Judge Hathorne (Paige Scott), with Ezekial Cheever (Matthew Socey) as clerk of the court. Deputy John Willard (Ian Hauer) finds himself having to arrest his friends and neighbors.

When what is and isn’t Christian – or demonic – are matters of law, they must be defined for the sake of enforcement. Modern concerns in the rise of Christian nationalism are echoed in the Puritan inquiries of this drama. The dynamics of power and privilege, or its lack, propel the plot in a situation that ironically becomes devoid of both magick and the mercy of Christ.

Hartz and Morton give powerful performances as the Proctors, finding the courage for their final ordeal. Embree sharply portrays a manipulative girl driven by youthful fantasy, tinged by a genuine fear for her life. Powers gives us the well-meaning local minister, frustrated by what he saw as a lack of respect, now compounded by events going further out of his control.

Bush and Carrier each show the horrors of being powerless with choices that condemn you no matter what you do. Reiswerg appropriately presents a person resolute in her convictions. Unfortunately, so do Bryant and Scott as uncompromising judges. Weimer gives the most complex performance, as a man who finds evil not in an entity but in unbudging egos, leading him to forego his own.

“The Crucible” tests its characters, as well as our own attitudes, a necessary exam for our own time.

Performances resume Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 29-30), then Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 1-2) at Sheldon Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis (southwest corner of Butler University campus). Get info and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.

GHDT ‘Casket Girls’ dance again

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By John Lyle Belden

Though shrouded in myth, the story of the “Casket Girls” is true*. In the 1720s, by order of King Louis IV of France at the urging of the Church, young women were sent to new Gulf Coast colonies to be wives to the men there in hopes of keeping them civilized and Christian.

These filles a la cassette (girls with suitcases) were eventually referred to with the word casquette, which conjured the more popular term. They were pale and delicate, it was said, sensitive to the sun and, perhaps, the magical spirit of New Orleans.

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre has revived its production that tells the legend with “modern gothic vampire” flair, featuring original music by Cory Gabel. Choreography and costumes are again by Gregory Glade Hancock, with lighting by Ryan Koharchik.

This modern-dance ballet centers on the character of Catherine (Abigail Lessaris), a Casket Girl who lives with the Sisters of St. Ursula until she finds her beau, Jean (guest dancer Cody Miley). But supernatural forces strike, changing her forever.

The second act brings the undead Catherine back to New Orleans a century later, finding an ally in voodoo priestess Mother Ava May (Olivia Payton) and love with sweet Saraphine (Josie Moody). But evil Lucien (Thomas Mason) wants to rule the city, and if Catherine doesn’t join him, he knows the Casket Girl now has something to lose.

Dancers also include Nathalie Boyle, David Elser, Fiadh Flynn, Sophie Jones, Zoe Maish, Vivien Mickels, Hazel Moore, Audrey Springer, Josie Steinmetz, and Lucy Grontkowski of The Conservatory of Dance at Granger, Ind., with guest vocalist Tessa Gibbons.

Stunning and beautiful throughout, the music and movement embrace a dark atmosphere evoking the works of Anne Rice and the goth-punk aesthetic of the World of Darkness roleplaying games. Gabel, in close collaboration with Hancock, brings a Nine-Inch-Nails-esque percussion to the score, giving a relentless beat to the characters’ stilled and breaking hearts.

A unique danse macabre for this spooky season, “The Casket Girls” have just one performance remaining, 5 p.m. today (Oct. 25) as I post this, at The Tarkington in the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. Watch for this production to likely return in coming years.

With this, GHDT opens its 28th season. Next up is its next improvised collaboration in the “Melange” series on Nov. 15-16 as Mickels dances while vocalist Jessica Hawkins sings and Madhuchhanda Mandal creates a visual work of art. The full company celebrates the Holidays with Winterfest on Dec. 4-7 and 11-14. These performances will be at The Florence performance space at The Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, 329 Gradle Dr., Carmel.

Full information and tickets at gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.

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(*History and legend of the Casket Girls at NewOrleans.com)

More laughs than chills in Fonseca Halloween show

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By John Lyle Belden

Proving any time of year is right for a holiday tradition, Fonseca Theatre Company presents “Boo-La-La! 4,” a set of funny and eerie short plays intertwined with appropriate pop hits.

Past Boo-La-La actor Charlie Rankin directs the cast of Ashton Driscoll, Avery Elise, Hannah Luciani, and Gloria Renollet, who show great comedic skill as well as excellent chemistry. Though this is their first time as an ensemble (and FTC debuts for Luciani and Renollet) they interact like a polished comic troupe or cast of [name of popular skit-based TV show here].

This is evident from the opening bit, “One Night Only” by Judson Wright, as an improv group attempts to riff with “props” they happened to find backstage.

In “A Sad Vampire” by Aleah Vassell, Driscoll and Elise are bartender and customer on a quiet Halloween night. The follow-up song, putting a number from a hit musical to new use, adds a twist to the plot.

 Luciani and Renollet follow with “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” by Piper Murphy. Careful where you read that title, as these girls at a sleepover find out the hard way.

A Civil War reenactment feels too real in “The Ghosts of Chickamauga” by Sharla S. Stevens, as one of the four we see on stage shows us that for some, the battle never ended.

It’s not one of these shows without a piece by local playwright Mark Harvey Levine. His “The Pumpkin Priest” brings us back to the funny pages with characters from one of his popular Christmas plays, this time with “sincerity.”

“Dragnet” by Christopher Wittman features Driscoll, Elise, and the return of an upcycled puppet from last summer’s “Mami Wata” as an avenging spirit.

 A carnival haunted house seems like an odd place to propose, but in “Hauntingly Ever After” by Marcia Eppich-Harris it does feel right, as a zombie tries not to literally fall apart before getting the question out.

Not too scary, not too risque, and plenty entertaining, “Boo-La-La! 4” is highly recommended for your spooky-season activities. Performances are Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, through Nov. 2, at 2508 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis.

Get info and tickets at fonsecatheatre.org.

Enter the haunted trap of ‘Veronica’s Room’

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By John Lyle Belden

Eclipse Productions* of Bloomington adds to the October chill with its production of “Veronica’s Room.”

The 1973 play is by Ira Levin, author of “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Stepford Wives,” which should alert you to the caliber of psychological thriller we are dealing with. To set that mood, the audience walks in through the stage area of the Rose Firebay Theater in the Waldron Arts Center and are seated in the titular room throughout the play. Try to ignore the phantoms.

Soon arriving are Susan (Mandy Scamacca) and Larry (Michael Allen), a young couple invited by John (Ronnie Johnstone) and Maureen (Becky Stapf), caretakers of this old house. The Girl is asked to help comfort the home’s aging resident by pretending to be her long-dead sister, Veronica. They note that Cissie, who is dying, has mentally slipped back to 1935 and needs reassurance that her sister has forgiven her for past events.

Reluctant at first, Susan agrees to take on the role, including changing into Veronica’s clothes. After The Woman briefs her on details including the younger brother Conrad and their physician, Dr. Simpson, she is left alone to prepare for the next scene.

She is not ready for what happens next.

I dare not spoil anything further, as the plot twists around shifting identities and altered reality – like a story by Phillip K. Dick in the style of Shirley Jackson. Director Kate Weber leans into this sense of fractured perspective with touches including the unspeaking hooded guides at the show’s beginning, wall cut-aways allowing us to see into the hall outside the room, and the spooky soundscape – designed by Joshua Lane – with constant low moans and creaks. Terrible past events haunt this space; as we come to understand them, note that this is for mature audiences (content includes various forms of abuse, as well as gaslighting and murder).

Performances explore the complexity of the characters’ identities while the flexible nature of stagecraft in presenting any time and place gives us little certainty. Is Susan pretending to be Veronica, or did Veronica dream up Susan? Scamacca effectively personifies the struggle. Our printed program is of no help – she is listed as “The Girl.”

Likewise, Allen is “The Young Man,” a little standoffish and hard to fathom from the start. Johnstone, “The Man,” masterfully drops clues that only add up in the end. Stapf, “The Woman,” gives a powerhouse performance that stuns with every disturbing twist.

For our Indianapolis readers, this play is well worth the drive down to Bloomington. Eclipse’s immersive approach to theatre really pays off. Remaining performances of “Veronica’s Room” are Oct. 24-26 at 122 S. Walnut St. Get info and tickets at eclipseproductionscompany.com.

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(*No relation to the “Eclipse” professional theatre program of Summer Stock Stage in Indianapolis.)  

Athenaeum, NoExit present mysterious ‘Gathering’

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By John Lyle Belden

The Athenaeum in downtown Indianapolis has long been reputed to house restless spirits.

At “The Gathering,” step inside and find yourself in 1919, right after the first World War, during a pandemic known as the Spanish Flu, and at the dawn of Prohibition. Also on people’s minds and hearts were the practice and promise of Spiritualism, a faith path leading many to seek communication with the dead.

This theatrical experience is presented by NoExit Performance, resuming the local company’s practice of site-specific productions.

Famed medium Madame Josephine (Callie Burk-Hartz) has returned to Indianapolis, her hometown, to give her final public séances at the former Deutche Haus. We in the audience are that public. While waiting for her show to begin, we happen to witness some interesting goings-on.

William (Bill Wilkinson), a former skeptic turned Prognosticator, shows us one of his mentalist tricks. Max (Jaddy Ciucci), a Metaphysician, arrives with a curious electric device she wishes to show Mme. Josephine. This sparks the curiosity of Edith (Kallen Ruston), a local reporter.  

Meanwhile, young widow Lorraine (Georgeanna Smith Wade) seeks a private audience with the medium, which the show’s producer Victor (Lukas Felix Schooler) says is not possible without a substantial additional fee. The distraught woman persists, as she needs to contact the spirit of her recently-lost daughter – providing it doesn’t also arouse the shade of her late husband.

We also encounter Nellie (Beverly Roche), a “scientific” Palmist, as well as a fellow Spectator (Audrey Stonerock) about whom we learn something we weren’t meant to know.

The audience moves through this production as the scenes play out in several rooms. This also takes us up backstage stairs not usually open to the public (those with mobility issues are taken to the similarly decorated elevator).

Some moments involve movement to evoke the hidden turmoil of these characters, with all their secret feelings and motivations. The first was surprising, but they shouldn’t be for those familiar with NoExit, juxtaposed with the more realistic portrayals of dialogue.

We join the séance itself on the historic stage of the Athenaeum. A rare view of its workings aids the feeling of being in a world on the haunted edge of comfortable reality.

Performances are first-rate, skillfully maintaining the atmosphere so that suspense is imperceptible until the foreboding mood is all around us like an ethereal fog. Smith Wade draws on our empathy while hinting at the darkness that follows her. Schooler keeps Victor equal parts protective and manipulative, never allowing us to trust even as we feel compelled to follow. Burk-Hartz perfectly presents tired and troubled Madame Josephine, up to now a polished professional, yet sensing in this night something too real for mere entertainment.

The subplot building with Ciucci and Ruston’s characters is pleasantly intriguing, as well as the presence of Wilkinson and Roche’s practitioners of occult arts who, though wise to the tricks, are still drawn into the growing sense of mystery.

My one criticism, which could be seen as a compliment – being left wanting to see more. It felt like another scene or two could have deepened the narrative, giving more context and purpose for all the characters, aside from one person’s grave secret mostly revealed at the evening’s climax.

Still, there is plenty here to see and feel. And some things are necessarily left in shadow for us to ponder, just as it should be for this chilling experience.

Performances start in the lobby of the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St., at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-25. For information and tickets, visit AthenaeumIndy.org. Get NoExit info on their Facebook page.

Cryptid ‘Evil Dead’ a big mess – just how we like it

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By John Lyle Belden

Why am I even writing this?

Oh, right. They let us in for free. Got thoroughly doused with wet, cold, red, gelatin-fortified fake blood – right in the face, torso, and thoroughly in the crotch – at no charge.

However, if you are reading this, wishing to enjoy the same macabre shower, and you don’t have a ticket to Cryptid Entertainment’s production of “Evil Dead: The Musical,” well, you are pretty much out of luck. Every seat in the IF Theatre’s Basile main stage is covered in gore sold out, every show, except – possibly – the added final performance at midnight on Halloween.

Let me reassure you, though, if you are bothered by wild horror-based humor, R-rated hijinks, nasty words, near-nudity, horny trees, and FUN, then you have (metaphorically) dodged the bullet (and for-real a lot of wet ickiness). Dakota Jones and company can provide you more wholesome entertainment next month.

Since you are likely to miss it, I could frankly write anything here: that Chris Ritchie as Ash truly commits to the role by actually cutting off his hand every night (they sew it back on; these people are professionals!) or that Kylie Schweikarth intensely studied the Mike Rowe “crawlspace” commercials to perfect her lurking in the basement, or that Payton Ullman keeps an exorcist on speed-dial, or that Jess Hackenberg is so method that she took three and a half semesters of the Lost Enochian language to better evoke the Necronomicon, or that Suraj Choudhary managed to memorize the line “stupid b*tch” in Guiness World Record Time (look it up), or even that Tony Schaab’s passionate portrayal of the Moose was so moving the audience could not stay in their seats. And Jonathan Young’s Jake was indeed reliable, we just can’t publicly say at what.

Oh, but you do have a ticket and was just wondering what to expect? If I told you it was awful, would you give up your seats, because I’ve got these friends, and…

All, right, I’ll admit it. It was awesome.

Like “The Rocky Horror Show,” it’s a fully immersive theatre experience – but instead of the audience messing with the actors, the cast and crew mess with you! And it does get messy, reaching well into the seating. Don’t wear anything too delicate. The musical takes on the plots of “Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn” with lots of nods to “Army of Darkness,” featuring Ritchie at his most Bruce Campbell-est and the others all camping it up, including songs and a zombie dance number. Unfamiliar with the films? It’s not a hard plot to follow.

And that Moose – give him the Tony!  

Find out more at indyfringe.org or the Cryptid Entertainment page on Facebook.

Pen-pal pandemonium at Buck Creek Players

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By John Lyle Belden

Buck Creek Players lifts our spirits with a fun production of the classic rom-com musical, “She Loves Me.”

This 1960s Broadway hit by Joe Masteroff, with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, is based on the 1937 play “Parfumerie” by Miklos Laszlo, which also inspired the 1998 movie “You’ve Got Mail.” Directed for BCP by Drew Bryson, its setting in 1930s Budapest, Hungary, feels like any European or American major city in a gentler time.

Maraczek’s perfume shop prides itself on its service, including a warm greeting, swift attention to returns and complaints, and even singing you out the door with your purchase. The staff includes neurotic family man Sipos (Phil Criswell), suave ladies’ man Kodaly (Troy Bridges), hopeless romantic Ilona (Miranda Boyle [nèe Nehrig]), eager delivery boy Arpad (Colton Woods), and introverted assistant manager Georg Nowack (Bobby Haley).

On a summer day, owner Mr. Maraczek (Darrin Gowan) brings to the shop a selection of musical cigarette boxes, which Georg fears will never sell. The boss declares they will, and bets him that one will be sold within the hour. Moments later, a young woman, Amalia Balash (Jenna MacNulty), nervously asks for a job at the shop. After being told there are no openings, she quickly talks a customer into purchasing a music box, convincing her it’s for holding sweets.

Amalia is hired; Georg is annoyed. While they bitterly bicker through the coming months, neither knows that they are anonymously writing romantic letters to each other through a lonely-hearts club. The “Dear Friends” of their correspondence plan a first-time in-person rendezvous in December. Looks like they are in for a holiday surprise!

Supporting in roles including shop customers, as well as discreet diners at a cozy café, are Zach Bucher, Drew Hedges, Elizabeth Huston, Sheila Raghavendran, Josh Rooks, Derek Savick-Hesser, Lizzie Schultz, and Lauren Bowers Werne.

Like a well-run parfumerie, this is an excellent ensemble performance. Each of the shop workers, including Gowan’s Maraczek, get moments to shine. We even get a personal-growth arc with Ilona, which Boyle brings out beautifully. On the other hand, Bridges keeps Kodaly cool but difficult to like, his bad-boy persona more than a facade. Criswell keeps Sipos’s nobility hidden, but it’s not hard to detect. High-schooler Woods maintains Arpad’s boyish charm as he matures before our eyes.

Haley shines as his Georg sorts out what he wants, struggling with confidence as events turn out nothing like he expected. As Amalia, MacNulty is simply brilliant – beautiful and powerful in voice and personality. We can’t wait to see how these two finally get together, though, as always with such stories it won’t be easy.

Content is no worse than PG, though there is an instance of self-harm.

Kelsey McDaniel is assistant director. Meg Benedict leads the 12-piece orchestra. Andy Riggs is vocal director. Choreography is by Justin Sheedy. Kayla Richardson is stage manager, assisted by Olivia Lawson.

With lots of laughs and sweet as vanilla ice cream, fall in love with “She Loves Me,” performances Friday through Sunday, Oct. 17-19, at Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern  Ave. (Acton Road exit off I-74), Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at buckcreekplayers.com.

Ankh gets ‘Reckless’ in a good way

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By John Lyle Belden

Indianapolis sees constant production of theatre arts by groups tied not to a place as much to ideas and creative vision. This includes – among others – No Exit, Catalyst Repertory, Q Artistry, Summit Performance, NAATC, Southbank Theatre Company, Theatre Unchained, American Lives Theatre, 4th Wall, Clerical Error Productions, Betty Rage, Cryptid Entertainment, and Defiance Comedy.

Ankh Productions deserves to be in that conversation.

Having moved on from the sadly now-closed Storefront Theatre, their neon elephant shines for the moment in the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood south of downtown Indy with Ankh’s production of “Non-Traditional Reckless Relations,” a collection of short plays by Jamaal McCray, at Lincoln Lane Coffee Co.

McCray is joined by Ankh co-founder Chandra Lynch, Zachariah Stonerock, and Anna Himes in pieces that explore with raw emotion, wild humor, and entertaining absurdity, how we relate to one another through unusual stress.

It’s too simplistic to compare this to known properties like Marx Brothers, Monty Python, SNL, or In Living Color, yet the same root is under the surface, back to the smiling Greek masks and tall tales around ancient fires. McCray says the title refers to his efforts not to slip into “traditions of mediocrity,” to take stagecraft and “strip(ed) it down to its raw essence.” As Lynch puts it in a Facebook post, “Just the art; pure, alive, unfiltered.”

High artistic goals, indeed. In “NTRR,” we see them making the climb.

This show was written by McCray as the third in a trilogy that started with “Love You Reckless,” last seen in April 2022. (He is still working on Part Two, he said.)

The foursome start with a piece heavy with avant-garde metaphor – confronting directionality, personal preferences, political groupthink, light, and more – which grabs our attention, elicits laughter while provoking thought, and gets us ready to expect practically anything.

This is followed by the next playlet, where Stonerock reads a breakup letter while using the toilet.

Yes, things get a bit crude, with R-rated language at points, but no nudity or sim-sex, so it’s okay for teens and up.

The bare-bones aesthetic, in part from low-budget necessity, concentrates our attention on the actors while employing a few simple props. A chain wrench finds an amazing array of uses.

The humor is never far from far deeper context. Exploring raw emotion and toxicity in relationships gets somehow easier when you’re battling a giant pigeon or stuck on a small boat in shallow water. When you need to fix something, at some point you’re not really talking about the thing before you that you’re repairing.

McCray, Lynch, Stonerock, and Himes all give excellent performances and interact well throughout, showing commitment to the concept and vision.

So, even if you are not planning your lover’s murder, or negotiating with the trash collector, you’ll still find plenty to relate to, and even enjoy, in these “Non-Traditional Reckless Relations.” Performances are Friday through Sunday at 516 Lincoln Street (corner of Lincoln and East Street), Indianapolis. (Note that coffee service will have closed earlier in the afternoon.)

For information and tickets, visit ankhproductions.org.