2020

OnyxFest: Right Behind You

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OnyxFest is Indy’s first and only theater festival dedicated to the stories of Black playwrights. These one-act celebrations of Black life and culture are presented by IndyFringe and the Africana Repertory Theatre of IUPUI. After an initial weekend at the IndyFringe Theatre, upcoming performances are Friday through Sunday, Nov. 10-12, at historic Crispus Attucks High School, in the Auditorium at 1140 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Indianapolis. For information and tickets, visit OnyxFest.com.

By Wendy Carson

Even though it was just three years ago, the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming fuzzier in our memories. Playwright D.L. Patrick returns us there with a look at family dynamics that ring true no matter the source.

The family Matriarch (Faye Holmes) lies in her hospital bed wondering where her daughter is, the one who, as the ambulance took her away, promised to be “Right Behind You.” Days pass, and as she slips into a coma, her consciousness gets up to look around. Family eventually visit, offering frustrated apologies for the delay, but their stays are brief due to Covid protocols. However, it is more than the virus keeping one daughter away.

In conversations and flashbacks, we see how each family member deals with both this crisis and past issues. Performed by the ensemble of Beverly Harney, LaToya Jay, Kaitlynn Nailon, Alicia Sims, and Tamara Taylor, we see the issues of multigenerational living and how caring for one another can be as much a burden as a joy – yet it all gets thrown into perspective when it’s possible Mom may never wake up.

Director Megan Simonton does an excellent job of keeping the personalities of these proud women from overshadowing each other while also keeping the interpersonal family dynamics exceedingly true-to-life.

Go see “Right Behind You,” then consider visiting Grandma – maybe bring a jigsaw puzzle.

Suspense in our world beyond time and space

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By John Lyle Belden

We all remember the bizarre feeling of the day/month/season/year that was 2020. By March the world was shutting down, and even late into summer, fall and “virtual” holidays everyone was sorting out this new “normal” that echoes to this day.

Joe and his stepdaughter Abby (Bill Simmons and Paige Elisse) come home from a day at the zoo. They will not leave the house again for a long time. Waiting for them on the porch is a large wooden box.

What could be in this unexpected delivery? Perhaps a book, one that explains the world. Upon opening, they find there is a book, but it has no words, and a doll – that has no face. 

This sets up the drama in “The Body,” presented by the Phoenix Theatre, which playwright Steve Moulds said is inspired by the off-kilter reality of “The Twilight Zone.”

To be honest, it would have helped put the Covid era in perspective if we had a visit from Rod Serling. For most of us, day to day life wasn’t as much about the deadly virus as it was getting through with so many unknowns of how our lives, relationships, and jobs would continue, contrasted with seeing the same four walls around you, and the same faces in the room.

Joe is haunted by something that has nothing to do with the pandemic, a deep personal loss from which he, or his new family, has yet to recover. As Abby becomes “the Detective,” working the puzzle of the book’s illustrations, and the doll suddenly finds a name, fragile reality cracks around the man who just wanted to be a good father. 

Simmons, an excellent stage veteran and acting teacher, wears this role like a comfortable sweater, and as his unease grows, we feel it with him. Elisse embodies the nine-ish girl with all the sass, impatience, and sweetness that keeps it believable. 

As for the story itself, under the direction of Phoenix Christel DeHaan Artistic Director Constance Macy, with excellent mood-setting soundscapes by Mike Lamirand and lighting by Michael Jackson, Moulds’ plot unspools with appropriate tension, keeping us all engaged at the edge of our seats. 

Because it can elicit a strong response, perhaps a trigger warning is in order. I don’t want to give spoilers, but I can think of friends with close family tragedies whom I would not advise seeing this play. If you have concerns, please ask the Phoenix staff when ordering tickets.

Performances run through Nov. 19 on the Livia and Steve Russell main stage at the Phoenix, 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.