Aaron Young

IndyFringe: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Essentially, if you see a Fringe performance listed as being by Carmel High School theatre department, just go see it. I’ve now seen four of their professional-quality IndyFringe offerings, and I am still in awe of their 2018 show.

This production, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” is a fairly new play (likely an Indiana premiere) by Dwayne Hartford based on the 2006 award-winning children’s book by Kate DiCamillo.

On Egypt Street of an American city in the 1930s, little Abilene (Kate Sullivan) is given a fine china rabbit by her grandmother Pelligrina (Madison Alig). Abilene names him Edward Tulane, and adores him – as she should, the self-centered rabbit thinks. The spoiled, well-dressed rabbit silently makes demands that apparently only Pelligrina can hear, so she tells Abilene a bedtime story for Edward to also hear, a dark tale that puzzles the china toy.

Then, during a sea cruise, Edward falls overboard and his long journey begins. He becomes “Susanna,” the proxy child of a fisherman (Micah Phillips) and his wife (Sullivan); “Malone,” the companion and keeper of secrets for hobo Bull (Phillips) and his dog Lucy (Eden Hammond); “Clyde,” the scarecrow on the farm of an Old Lady (Alig); and “Jangles,” the treasured dancing doll of doomed Sarah Ruth (Juliet Malherbe, also our Narrator) and her loving brother Bryce (Sam Tiek), who makes him kick to his harmonica playing for nickels on the streets of Memphis, Tenn. However, an angry diner owner (Aaron Young) brings the journey to an abrupt end.

At last, Edward sits in a doll-shop window, older and repaired – but wiser? As the novel says, “If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless.”

The play features a recurring song, “North Star,” by student director Ella Asher with Sarah Warf and Micah Phillips. Eden Hammond choreographed bits of movement. And an on-stage musician, Seth Jacobsen, strums the guitar and expresses Edward’s thoughts.

This Hans Christian Anderson-esque story with rich thematic layers and childlike wonder is excellently rendered by the teen cast and crew. Adapted to under an hour from a full-length 80-minute play, this production does not feel rushed or missing any pieces – like with Edward, the cracks don’t show. This is essential viewing for all children and kids-at-heart.

One performance remains, 1:45 p.m. today (as we post this), Saturday, Aug. 27, at the District Theatre.

IndyFringe: ‘Aphrodite’s Refugees’

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This show is part of the 14th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 16-26, 2018 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

It’s hard to not hear the word “refugees” in the news today. It’s bandied about on an almost daily basis. This tends to numb us to the meaning and situations that cause people to succumb to this status.

When show creator Monica Dionysiou witnessed an exhibit by Doctors Without Borders in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado, she felt inspired to revisit her family’s stories of their own struggles during the many battles for dominance on their home island of Cypress, and how they came to America in the first place.

You can now witness the beauty, tragedy, and resilience of these people in her stunning offering, “Aphrodite’s Refugees.”

She artfully weaves the history of the island as well as its struggles for independence from the various countries warring over it. (Cypress is located in the Mediterranean near Greece and Turkey, which both have claims.) The stories begin with recordings of her family in their own words which are then interpreted by her and her partner to show the changes in the landscape of the island throughout the years.

Dionysiou’s partner, Aaron Young, literally illustrates the struggle by painting the backdrop of the ever-changing landscape of her homeland. He also illuminates important points of the story with further drawings and animations to enhance the drama. Plus, the finished landscape is available for sale at the end of each performance so you can acquire a spectacular original piece of artwork to help you remember these bittersweet tales for long afterward.

We also find out the connection to the Greek goddess of the title. She is the deity of love — but, alas, her brother is Aries, God of War, and in their immortal games he’s holding the cards.

Performances are today and tomorrow (Aug. 25-26) at 6 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Indyfringe Indy Eleven Theatre, 719 St. Clair St. (just east of the College and Mass Ave intersection).