Author: PWJW_Indy

IndyFringe: Horse Girl

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This was part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2025. Review originally posted on our Facebook page.

By Wendy Carson

Jason Adams once again brings us a spectacularly delightful offering to the Fringe with, “Horse Girl.” It’s an imaginative look at the history of his birth parents by the man who only knew the barest of details about them.

His father was a blacksmith from Liverpool, and his mother was an equestrian rider.

The show focuses mainly on his mother, Matilda (Tilde) McCullough, the descendant of a storied horse family. Details given include the Birth of Dressage and the History of the Fur Trade in Southern Ontario. We are also introduced to the magical horse, Ulysses, who would be her partner in the competitions that cemented her legacy in the horse world .

A small hint of his father’s backstory shows him turning away from the family business of fishing to become a blacksmith who would one day repair a show for Ulysses, thus introducing him to Tilde.

Their brief affair would end with the conception of Jason but due to family pressures, he would ultimately be given up for adoption and come into the care of his true mother, Janet Adams.

This bittersweet tale is told with all the whimsy and charm we have come to expect from Adams. For those of you not familiar with his style, think Winnie the Pooh meets Monty Python.

This show is appropriate for all ages, in fact, some younger audience members will likely be asked to assist with some of the effects.

Adams has grown so much as a storyteller through the years and this show has him at the pinnacle of his talents.

IndyFringe: Up All the Nights

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This was part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2025. Review originally posted on our Facebook page.

By Wendy Carson

Clerical Error Productions takes a small step away from their traditional comic wackiness to present a more serious offering that is still filled with absurd situation and humor.

Lucas Waterfill (Christy) is one of the state’s brightest comics and is absolutely brilliant staring in this play revolving around one memorable night of zany antics.

Beginning with Christy & his friends Jason (Nick Roberts) and Zora (Zhandi Kabunga) at a high-schooler’s party, we discover that Jason was robbed by some very strange individuals. One wearing rollerblades and carrying and umbrella, the other wearing an eyepatch. He is now intent on getting a gun for protection.

Since the party is lame, the group hops on a bus to take Christy home, but the bus breaks down and they all go their separate ways. As he’s rolling home (literally, he has Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheelchair), Christy ducks into a local bar and scams a lot of free drinks off of a strange couple but ends up stuck with the check when they leave in a huff.

Finally heading towards home, Christy is set upon by the same thieves who robbed Jason. Given that he has little of value on him, they settle for stealing his phone.

Things then get even stranger from here on.

I found the show to be an insightful look at a slice of life that the average person rarely gets to see. The characters were unusual, to say the least, but their stories and motivations all rang true. It’s nice to see some new points of view reflected at the Fringe.

IndyFringe: Out With It

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This was part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2025. Review originally posted on our Facebook page.

By Wendy Carson

A few months ago, I was complaining to my cohort, John, that we have had a dearth of Clowning shows at the Fringe these past few years and I am delighted to say that this year made up for it greatly. The first one on my list to see was this delightful gem.

Embracing the “Found Objects” technique of puppetry, the show centers on a variety of collapsible fabric boxes and some red ribbon scraps to give us a hilarious trip into the absurd.

The show begins as you enter with our performer sweeping up scraps of red fabric and ribbons and putting them in the box center stage. Once she is done, she throws them into the entryway and puts the box behind the curtains. Then the mayhem begins.

Boxes of varying size keep appearing onstage and she keeps trying to gather them together and move them offstage. Once it looks like she will accomplish this feat, more red ribbon appears from various places to keep her from ever getting anything organized.

While this seems like a simplistic show, the various techniques used as well as some of the props, at one point the ribbon coalesces into a creature with a noticeable face, are wonderful. Plus, the performer is so skilled in her physicality, she makes the most intricate movements seem like nothing at all.

Created and performed by Rough House Puppet Arts Co-Artistic Director, Claire Saxe, with original music by Lia Kohl, and Movement Direction by Chihjou Cheng. Since the group is based in Chicago, it would be worth checking out their schedule and making an easy road trip to see one of their shows.

Being that they were one of the hottest tickets of the first weekend of Fringe, I hope that they may see fit to make an occasional foray back to Indy with some of their other shows.

IndyFringe: Fae – An Original Story of Unusual Belly Dance

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This was part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2025. Review originally posted on our Facebook page.

By Wendy Carson

The Painted Knees arrived at Fringe this year with a spectacular dance extravaganza for all ages. Directed by Liz Wray and Lisa Warner, the show presented belly dancing in a narrative art form closer to how it originally began.

The show opens with a dance that highlights all the performers before the story begins. This gives you a nice look at the cast as well as setting us up for the tale we shall witness.

The story unfolds in much the same way as a ballet would, with no speaking and only dancing to drive the narrative. However, the troupe not only gives you background story in the program, it also cleverly breaks the show down into its various scenes with titles to keep you from getting lost.

The show overall was a sheer delight to behold. The dancing was spectacular, and the costumes/makeup effects were amazing.

I must say, as a past student of belly dancing, it is lovely to see the variety of body shapes present in the cast. Belly Dancing was created for a more ample body size and that was reflected well here.

This show was one of the most unique offerings at this year’s Fringe. I hope that The Painted Knees will continue to bring their skills and artistry to the Fringe stage for many years to come. I certainly look forward to seeing them again.

ALT: What happens in Aspen…

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By John Lyle Belden

One of the biggest surprises for me in seeing “Aspen Ideas,” the new dark comedy by Abe Koogler, is that the Aspen Festival of Ideas is a real thing – an annual gathering of the world’s rich, famous, influential, and otherwise successful in Aspen, Col., where they share various ideas of how to make the world a better place.

This play, presented by American Lives Theatre at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, is not about them.

Also planning to attend Aspen are Rob (Clay Mabbitt) and Anne (Diana O’Halloran). We meet them in New York, where they live, at a party where he hopes to make connections for his money management business. They encounter Jay (Alaine Sims), a woman who seems to be there for people-watching, which intrigues Anne as she herself is not comfortable at this event. They also meet Jay’s partner, Chris (Zach Tabor), who is pleasant but quiet – awkward and eccentric when he does speak (similar to the autism spectrum).

Days later, they all meet at Rob and Anne’s “Dumbo” apartment. Unsuccessfully avoiding this soiree is Rob and Anne’s 16-year-old daughter Sophie (Megan Janning), who, when cajoled into saying something to their guests, speaks frankly of her adolescent angst and resentments.

Rob feels compelled to invite Jay and Chris to join them in Aspen, insisting and offering to pay their way. The scenes that follow are on the plane to Colorado, then locations in and near the resort town.

Delayed by Fringe commitments, we saw this on its second weekend (one more remains), having heard that audience feedback has been mixed. What is the “idea” of what we see on the stage?

Neither the script nor Zack Neiditch’s direction allows these characters to be softened for more laughs. While it’s easy to see, perhaps, one of your friends or relatives in Rob or Anne – generally good persons – they become quite insufferable. Mabbitt and O’Halloran glibly commit to characters who feel like has-beens but are actually never-weres – he a frustrated artist of limited talent, she a dancer whose chorus career was ended by injury. They indulge in a poser lifestyle, not realizing it keeps them mired in their mediocrity.

Sims and Tabor excellently portray mysterious characters about whom we can only guess their true nature, even when their intentions are revealed at the end. Sims keeps Jay friendly while making you feel that something is a bit “off” about her. Tabor gives off a shy, even timid vibe in Chris’s quietude, which becomes effectively misleading.

Janning plays Sophie as a girl sharp enough to sense that she may not know what she wants, but it’s not what she’s got. She loves her parents, but hates what they represent.

“Aspen Ideas” is an amusing and interesting character study with an ongoing air of mystery. We found the ending of this 95-minute (no intermission) play intriguing and understandable in its context. Depending on what you think Jay and Chris may be, feel free to speculate what exactly happens on this summer day in Aspen.

Performances are Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 28-31, at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get tickets at phoenixtheatre.org and information at americanlivestheatre.org.

IndyFringe: Operation!

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This is part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Festival, Aug. 14-24, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. For information and tickets, see indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

This has nothing to do with the board game, though we do get a bit Medieval with a body lying on his back. The self-described “silly girls” of Disgusting Brothers Company created and perform this comedy set in the medical school of the University of Bolognia in 1303, where many had surgery done – some patients even surviving their procedures.

Also, that was a very eventful year for Pope Boniface VIII. Just saying.

Professor Alderotti (Elyse Rohn) and assistant Mondino (Elysia Justice) prepare for the day’s medical procedures, including surgery on a mysterious guest. Cardinal Francesco (Connor Buhl) arrives in full arrogance to announce the patient is his uncle, His Holiness Pope Boniface VIII (Vicci Simich). Months earlier, the Papal dispute with King Philip IV of France had led to Boniface being abducted and held briefly by the French, and he wasn’t doing too well. The 70-something year old Pontiff appears, shaking and mentally out of sorts, which his doctors have attributed to “melancholy.” Francesco insists that Alderotti perform a surgery to remove this condition; the Doctor and Mondino state it can’t be done; Francesco’s Vatican authority, and his dagger, say otherwise – prepare for surgery!

This show is a hilarious trove of historical humor. The set-up scene between Rohn and Justice already had us nearly rolling. The presence of the addled Pope, wonderfully portrayed by Simich, contrasted by the impatient menace of Buhl’s Francesco, only adds to fun. Elements of that era such as pomp and ceremony, and surgeons required to operate without looking upon His Holy body, also factor in the funny. Even pieces of flatbread become punchlines. Based loosely on actual history, this fantastic farce was written by Justice and director Hania Moktadir.

Performances in the IF Theatre Basile Stage continue Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Aug. 22-24.

IndyFringe: Grad School Sucks!

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This is part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Festival, Aug. 14-24, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. For information and tickets, see indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Fact may sometimes be stranger than fiction, but can it be made more funny? This is the experiment Dr. Rob Pyatt, PhD, conducted three times in the Vision Loft venue during the 2025 Indy Fringe Festival.

In his show, “Grad School Sucks!” the master of Weird Science told, with projected illustrations, about various real scientific studies and experiments. During the performance I attended, he told of research on rhinotillexomania (nose-picking) in adolescents; a Japanese experiment in improving rest by laying where the cat sleeps; an actual 1948 Idaho Fish & Game program of “Transplanting Beavers by Airplane and Parachute” (one critter was named “Geronimo”); and the eternal question of how often and why one washes their denim jeans.

After each mini-lecture, the stage was given to three improvisors – Bill Hale, Tim Harrison, and Kayla Tennessen – all from ComedySportz, with two also working in scientific fields. The made-on-the-spot skits (they had not been told about the topics beforehand) would lead to judging by the audience of who would pass this course in comedy.  

The trio proved to be very inventive and consistently funny, even when getting outrageous or spun off something Dr. Pyatt said that seemed off-topic. This made for a doubly entertaining hour between the weird things our lecturer found, and the goofy things the comics did with the information.

Being a Purdue alum and friend to many in central Indiana (including John and Wendy), Rob comes back to Indy from his home in New Jersey at least once a year, so hopefully another round of experiments will be arranged.

IndyFringe: El Traje Nuevo Del Emperador

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This is part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Festival, Aug. 14-24, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. For information and tickets, see indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Now that it has completed its three-day visit to the Vision Loft space at IndyFringe, a few words – in English, please excuse me – about this wonderful piece of Teatro Juvenile:

Presented by Juan Francisco Ramos Aguilar of El Salvador, you are treated to a mask-and-puppet production of the fairy tale fable also known as “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” This story was popularized by Hans Christian Andersen, though its source can be traced back to Spain. Still, its familiarity helps us who don’t speak Spanish as our jester narrator/puppeteer does the show entirely en español, full speed, as though entertaining children in his own country.

That’s right, no English. Not a word. You must pay close attention to the flow and the words that sound familiar, as well as the broad hand gestures and other cues that young listeners rely on as they learn more of their own tongue. For me, this enriched the experience, pulling it out of literary cliché so that I can experience it like its intended audience. I welcomed the chance to stretch my poquito “Sesame Street” understanding of Spanish. The colorful masks, costumes, puppets, and décor further enhance the scene.

Aguilar is the parable-teaching Jester, as well as the Conman seeking oro (gold), as well as the old Prima Ministro who takes El Rey (the King) to see the alleged miracle fabric. At points, His Majesty approaches the audience, asking our opinions. It’s best – no matter what he says or how little you understand – to respond with an emphatic “Si” lest you arouse his royal bluster.

Around the midpoint of the story, the narrator also gives us a quick hand-puppet skit with Punch-and-Judy style characters.

The overall experience was fascinating, and for someone like me an immersive opportunity to follow another language. For those in the audience who could speak Spanish, it was good to have a live performance that appealed directly to them.

Hopefully, this show or something like it can make its way to our city again.

IndyFringe: Beyond Ballet

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This is part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Festival, Aug. 14-24, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. For information and tickets, see indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

You have one chance left to see “Beyond Ballet,” presented by Indianapolis Ballet, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at The District Theatre. Given the rarity of seeing this professional company for such an affordable price, this is likely sold out. Still, check and see if you’re lucky.

What you will see (or miss) is an extraordinary display of beautiful, disciplined artistry in motion, showcasing the physical strength, stamina and control of the dancers. The style mostly exemplifies traditional ballet, even the woman in the pas de deux with a slow-tango feel works in toe-shoes. In a more modern mode is a piece choreographed by local legend David Hochoy, a trio (pas de trois, I believe is the term) to lyrical guitar and aria.

Further, it seems they brought the entire company to this exhibition. You rarely see the same person in two dances, giving us a sampling of Indianapolis Ballet’s varied and diverse talents. In the final curtain call, they overwhelm the District mainstage.

Information on their upcoming season is at IndianapolisBallet.org.

IndyFringe: The Estate Sale

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This is part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Festival, Aug. 14-24, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. For information and tickets, see indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

When you enter “The Estate Sale,” the one-woman show by Kelly Dee with Stew Jamesson, there are tables set up with various random and old items, which you can peruse before and after Dee’s performance. Name any price for something, and it’s yours – really!

“Why am I doing this?” she says, “I’m clearing out, letting go.” This applies to the clutter acquired by the estate sale company she runs with her mother in Melbourne, Fla., and that which she has no more room for “up here,” she adds, pointing at her head.

We get more than a sales pitch – the kitsch on the tables largely speaks for itself, though a few items she will show off for their novelty, like the political toilet paper or the rather sinful “statue” of Jesus (if they haven’t been sold yet). We also get the story of her life, from Queens, N.Y., to Florida – which she can’t stand, though she keeps finding herself back there. We learn about her parents, maybe not the best at nurturing, but they have a talent for flipping merchandise that may or may not have “fallen off a truck.” This naturally leads to dealing the estates of the many retirees in her city as they pass on.

She tells of how she always had the “urge to go” somewhere, anywhere. Her life’s baggage, literal and mental, she notes, still stays on her like a backpack. The head-stuff you will get free with your ticket; everything else, make an offer.

Fascinating and funny with the opportunity to get your own odd souvenir, the show has closed its three-show run at The District Theatre. However, Dee said she plans on pulling her sale wagon around Indy Fringe through its closing weekend before moving on to another city.