Month: September 2026

Mother’s devotion touches the world

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By John Lyle Belden

There’s something unique and fascinating about the cliché Jewish Mother. When encountered in performance it guarantees entertainment for the combination of simple values and cultural complexity. When you meet this personality in the real world, especially displaying a familiar mélange of honest concern and resolved acceptance, you find yourself wanting this woman for your second Mom.

In 1970s New York, countless LGBT youth found this maternal comfort in Jeanne Manford, and in her humble and loving way, she changed the world.

Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center presents the world premiere of “Everybody’s Favorite Mothers” by James Still, directed by Zack Neiditch.

When Jeanne’s son Morty (Jack Ducat) came out to her (Constance Macy), she accepted him without question. Her husband Jules (John St. Angelo) took more time to come around, he admits, but was fully accepting when he saw the violence that confronted a gay man just being himself.

Having been outspoken with a strong sense of justice since boyhood, Morty was an avid activist, working with close friends Mike (Matthew David Consell) and Leena (Alicia Barnes). As they planned to join a Gay Rights march on the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising (which had happened just a couple of years before), Morty asked his mother to walk with him. Feeling challenged at her initial hesitation, Jeanne firmly says she’ll be there.

For someone who prefers to live her own life, “I’m not a joiner,” Mrs. Manford is more conflicted than she realizes. The night before the march (which she likes to think of as a “parade”), she finds herself visited in her dreams by icons of motherhood. Maria Von Trapp from “The Sound of Music” (Zarah Shejule) appears in drag-inspired finery to reassure Jeanne and get her mind ready for the coming big day. She introduces two mothers from the past – the Virgin Mary (Barnes) and Mrs. Cratchit (St. Angelo) – and one from the future, Marge Simpson (Conwell), all eager to share encouragement.

The next day’s march sets Jeanne on a path of activism, Jules by his side, that leads to the founding of what is now PFLAG. Her firm sense that family members should support one another fueled her drive to help resolve estrangement between queer kids and their families, and give support to other parents.    

Still – the former playwright in residence at Indiana Repertory Theatre, now living on the West Coast – said he had great difficulty writing this important story of a little-known hero. While researching he found a relevant speech by President Barack Obama and realized that to include this event from 2008 in a story from 1972, he had to be very flexible with the element of time. Thus, to help focus on the central relationship of Morty and Jeanne, they take charge of their story to “rewind” and “forward-wind” to help them, and us watching, better understand what happened. This adds context and drama to a struggle that included trauma that proves difficult to get past.

Shejule also makes an appearance as the principal of the school where Jeanne teaches, having the impossible task of persuading her to reduce her activism.

This play’s clever presentation goes beyond Still’s words and Neiditch’s direction. Sound and video projections by Ben Dobler include actual news footage. The simple set with seating on two sides is by Rob Koharchik with lighting by Michael Moffatt. Anthony James Sirk did the costumes, which include fantastic plastic wigs and outfits for the dream sequence. Props, including Maria’s cute pet goat, are by Kristin Renee Boyd. Stage manager is Emily Root, assisted by Morgan Grabczak.

Ducat presents all the fed-up stress and sense of personal peril in Morty’s struggle to end discrimination. Conwell plays Mike more glib but with his own sense of worry – he also does a perfect Marge voice. Barnes, who said she reflected on her own journey to inform the role, plays Leena as eager and empathetic while dealing with the unfortunate rift among some activist gays and lesbians. Shejule’s turn as Maria is a delight. St. Angelo presents Jules as steadfastly supportive, as his fragile health allowed.

Macy – also the Phoenix Theatre Christel DeHaan Artistic Director – seems effortlessly amazing as Jeanne, working through her infrequent uncertainties while never diminishing her sense of doing what is right.

An unflinching look at the fight for gay rights featuring a mother’s uncompromising care, “Everybody’s Favorite Mothers” delivers an important chapter in American LGBTQ+ history, and a reminder that this story still continues.

Performances run through Sept. 20 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

For information on PFLAG, see pflag.org.

Born that way? Belfry goes ‘Bad’

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By John Lyle Belden

For more than 70 years, “The Bad Seed” has been one of the most chilling dramas ever held on stage. The 1954 play by Maxwell Anderson, adapted from the novel by William March (prior to the 1956 film), tackles thorny issues of mental health, psychiatry, nature vs. nurture, juvenile development and psyche, trauma and responses to it, parenting, suicide, being blind to one’s assumptions, free will, and more.

All laid bare by a dispute over a school penmanship medal.

The Belfry Theatre production at The Cat in Carmel doesn’t shy away from any of this. Directed by Matt McKee, the story unfolds in a manner that even if you know everything that is going to happen, you can’t help but be drawn into the growing suspense.

Sixth-grader Olivia Cook plays central character Rhoda Penmark, the practically “perfect” daughter of Col. Kenneth and Cristine Penmark (Matt Spurlock and Lisa Anderson). If the name or her charming face in blonde braids look familiar, it may be that last year, she had the lead in “Ruthless,” the musical parody of “Bad Seed” (and “All About Eve”). This time, the singing and campy elements of the previous role cast aside, she proves to be as cold as a Terminator. Cook perfectly embodies the empathy deficit, narcissistic calm with moments of fury, imperfect attempts to be enough of a “nice” girl to get anything she wants, and unhindered calculations to remove obstacles.

Even now, in the era of True Crime programs and podcasts, it’s hard to see this in a cute tween girl; adults in the Eisenhower era didn’t stand a chance.

Lisa Anderson, as increasingly anxiety-ridden Christine, gives us a reminder that she is as capable of award-worthy performance as her husband Matt (who provides a radio voiceover). What starts with a constant vague sense of unease, accompanied by disturbing dreams, grows into ever darker suspicions as each dread becomes confirmed.

Daughter of criminologist turned radio star Richard Bravo (Jamie Kenjorski, who we’ll meet later), Christine takes advantage of her husband being away on assignment to The Pentagon to pick the brain of current criminologist and author Reginald Tasker (Nate Mecija). Joining them for lunch are her landlady and upstairs neighbor Monica (Desireè Black), accompanied by Emory (Thom Johnson), Monica’s brother.

Monica, whom Black plays with blythe confidence, has undergone Freudian therapy and feels herself an expert on the matter, swiftly diagnosing everyone. Tasker, ignoring her amateur prattle, relates advances in studying psychopaths, finding their conditions as much or more a product of birth than upbringing.

Meanwhile, at the school picnic, Claude Daigle – the boy who won the medal Rhoda not only covets but felt entitled to – mysteriously drowns. While others react as you’d expect, Rhoda comes home and calmly puts on her skates to enjoy her free afternoon. The only one to openly suspect her mood and motives is handyman Leroy (Aaron Beal), who has come to terms with his own neurodivergence and senses a fellow traveler in the girl. Though it is plain, even to a first-time viewer, that this apparently simple-minded man is not the principal villain, Beal’s edgy performance helps keep questions open to his motives.

The question of what really happened comes to consume Christine, especially after she is visited by Rhoda’s teacher Miss Fern (Samantha Kelly). We also meet Claude’s parents, Dwight (Tom Riddle) acting like a turtle wanting desperately to retreat into his shell, and Hortense (Becca Bartley), who has submerged her grief and need for answers in alcohol. The Daigles being working-class, feeling socially inferior, factors into the mother’s slurred rants – which Bartley delivers with perfect pathos – adding to the tragedy of their situation.

McKee’s daughters make big contributions to this production. Ava serves as assistant director, stage manager, and has a moment onstage as a Messenger. Her sister Kayla, who also works the light and sound boards at Center Stage in Lebanon, does so here with growing professionalism (light and sound designed by Bill Miller). Costumes, including some interesting mother/daughter combinations, are by Taylor Moss. Susanne Bush made the most of the Cat stage to design the roomy Penmark living room. Jennifer Poynter wrangled the props (where did she get the medal?). Makeup and hair by Victoria Garcia.

“The Bad Seed” takes root for one more weekend, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 11-13, at 254 Veterans Way in downtown Carmel. (Despite ongoing construction, accessing this street is fairly easy.) Get info and tickets at thebelfrytheatre.com or thecat.biz.

IndyFringe: Sounds good

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This is part of the annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe 2026, held Aug. 13-23 in venues around downtown Massachusetts Ave. Information at indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Reviews of: “Piamon & Buer: Compositions for String Quartet,” by Tanner Hammock; “Resonance: A Sound Healing Experience,” by Bright Jade and Friends; “Sympathetic Resonance,” by Forward Motion. 

Fringe is more than just acting or singing or clowning or dancing while some music may play in the background. Sometimes, it’s the music itself. This year’s festival featured three instrumental presentations, each taking their sound in a different direction.

Piamon & Buer

For fans of classical music, this set of new compositions by Tanner Hammock certainly fits the bill. Performers were Yi-Fan Sun and Chin-Pei Tso on violin, Michael Hill on viola, and Dr. Andrea Kleesattel on cello. All are Indiana based except Hill, like Hammock, is from Louisville.

Though these works are new, they felt timeless. Sometimes they resemble pleasing string compositions by Mozart or his contemporaries; at other moments, it’s like the music setting the mood and color of a movie scene. It has been a long time (having studied music in college decades ago) since I listened to this sort of music critically. Looking at my crude notes, the best I can say is that there is a lot of interplay among the four instruments, mixing periods of brightness and tension. One slow-paced movement is underscored by a single sustained cello line. In another, a violin seems to sing.

I know some people consider such music boring, but this hour, for me, was anything but.

Resonance

Not to be confused with the similarly-named performance in the next review, this was a unique experience for IndyFringe. Several performers sat on mats, blankets or footstools all along the stage of the Murat Arabian Room, surrounded by mostly simple instruments. There were also a couple of electronic devices and a full-size harp.

Bright Jade stood and told us we would be taking a sonic journey moving through the four elements, passing the “gates” of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. She did not speak again until the end. In the meantime, we experience a “sound bath” involving ambient tones and nature sounds, rattles, chimes, gongs, soft vocalizations and breaths, rattles, ringing bowls, the harp, a hollow “rain” stick, and more, including that wooden frog you find in a New Age store.

Performers sometimes got up and even slowly walked to and around the audience, seeming to spread the energies they generate through the room. All involved took this seriously, serenely.

Needless to say, this was not for everyone. If this kind of experience relaxes and centers you, seek it out. If anyone felt this was an hour wasted – well, for them, it likely was. I found it interesting and appreciated its contribution to the eclectic mix of festival entries.

Sympathetic Resonance

Forward Motion is a local ensemble that “focuses on the performance of new works and free improvisations” (according to their website). Performers include Jennifer Page (flute), Eric Salazar (clarinet), Angela Pulliam (violin), Maya Nojiri Sutherland (cello), Ashton Vickery (piano), and Corey Denham (percussion).  They played several pieces by different contemporary composers including Rob Funkhauser of Indianapolis.

The music and interplay among the instruments was interesting and engaging. The styles varied from modern, reminiscent of Philip Glass, to more traditional, bringing to mind Aaron Coupland.

One interesting piece, Funkhauser’s “Propulsion,” involved Denham playing a modified snare drum with a hidden switch on the rim, allowing him to go back and forth from regular drumming to an electronic vibraphone effect without missing a beat.

In the finale, the audience gets involved in clapping the rhythm, leaving us all feeling we have truly been part of this experience. Forward Motion has upcoming performances, starting later this month. See forwardmotionnewmusic.com.  

IndyFringe: Just making stuff up

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This is part of the annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe 2026, held Aug. 13-23 in venues around downtown Massachusetts Ave. Information at indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Reviews of: “Ad Libs: The Show: The Experience!” by Cryptid Entertainment; “Improvised Stephen King,” by Mark Cashwell; “Welcome to Nowhere,” by Shelf Sabotage Improv. 

There are performers in central Indiana with a particular set of skills: they will find you; they will get words from you; and they will make you laugh. (Hope you read that in Liam Neeson voice.)

Every Fringe festival has its Improv acts, which are tricky for reviewers like me to write up. By the nature of the show, no two performances are alike, and can have vastly different “plots.” Also, audience participation and energy are vital to an enjoyable show. Skillful performers can salvage reluctant suggestions or feedback, but to really bring the funny, an engaged crowd (the bigger, the better) is a must.  

Ad Libs

The popularity of Cryptid Entertainment and the talents of its actors made this a promising selection for your Fringe ticket. Tony Schaab is a natural as our smarmy host of a long-form improv involving a number of “Who’s Line” style games. There are a few things to help guide the made-up-on-the-spot story his fellow local performers will present. On the way in, there’s a choice of three exotic animals for which audience members can vote. We later find the winner fills in the blank in “The Case of the Missing [blank].” Audience members are also given envelopes, most containing options to choose among to guide the narrative.

The story progresses through games including “Sound Effects,” “Props” (bringing an audience member on stage to select), “Party Quirks,” “Alphabet,” and finally “Survivor,” in which the final scene is reenacted again and again, with fewer actors each time.

In the end, at least at the performance I attended, the platypus from the mall with the J.C. Penney was recovered safely, and in entertaining fashion.

The Cryptids have shown themselves to be excellent at both scripted material and wild improvisation. Weeks earlier, they performed a role-playing-game themed improv (featuring Schaab as Bigfoot) at GenCon.  

Improvised Stephen King

Mark Cashwell is both a great actor and an improviser with a gift for brilliantly playing the host of a game or talk show. This time, he combines these skills to give a deadpan presentation of the Master of Horror himself, complete with dark wig and darker attitude.

Mr. King needs to write another bestseller, and is out of ideas, so he will revisit one of his hits. Using audience response, he chooses among “It,” “The Shining,” “Carrie,” and “Misery.” The rest of the show is a suggestion-guided re-enactment of the selected novel/movie.

The performance I attended did “Carrie.” It turned out very well, in part because the highly talented actor and improvisor Frankie Bolda took on the title role. No pigs were harmed, though some chairs were endangered by bouts of hilarious telekinesis, and Carrie even got to live – at least until the clown with the balloon showed up.

Cashwell has given us a wide variety of improvised adventures over the last several years; this makes an excellent addition, especially for those in a macabre mood.

Welcome to Nowhere

Newer addition to the local comedy scene, Shelf Sabotage Improv, presents a long-form improvisation with plenty of audience input for their several-member troupe. The story involves a quirky small town with a weird name, a unique annual festival, an unusual teen fad, an unconventional varsity sport at the high school, and perhaps an exotic animal on the loose.

Just a normal day in [blank].

The performers did well on picking up on all the often bizarre things we shouted to them, crafting a surprisingly cohesive narrative, complete with occasional callbacks and a satisfying conclusion.  Even when we set up a juxtaposition too weird for the player who had been offstage when we set it up to guess, the results were still funny.

Here’s hoping we see more of Shelf Sabotage.

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All three of these shows were held in the Arabian Room of the Murat Shrine Club, a regular supporter of the IndyFringe festival.