Casey Ross

Southbank delivers brilliant Bechdel biography

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By John Lyle Belden

Southbank Theatre Company opens its season of Origins with the coming of age and coming-out musical, “Fun Home,” based on the graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and music by Jeanine Tesori.

Cartoonist Bechdel, reaching the age that her father died, tries to come to terms with the past with her art. As she draws, stumped for the right captions to add, she remembers her life as a restless girl with her brother, sister, and parents in a “House on Maple Avenue” in Beech Creek, Pa., as well as her fateful first year of college when, in her words, she came out as a lesbian, and her closeted gay father killed himself.

We find her upbringing to be a little unusual, in a house with a museum-like collection of various antiques, with a father who not only teaches English at the high school but also runs a mortuary (the “Fun[eral] Home” of the title) passed down through the family. Father always has need of a young handyman to help with home improvement projects – his true purpose to which the kids are oblivious, while their mother understands too well.

Directed by Southbank founder and artistic director Marcia Eppich-Harris, she has again assembled an excellent cast. Patrick Vaughn plays conflicted and complex father Bruce, exacting and demanding with others as he strives to maintain tight control on himself. Afton Shephard gives an intense portrayal of self-sacrificing mother Helen. Orion Cortez and Lilly Adams give appropriately goofy teen performances as siblings John and Christian. Their comfort with unconventional surroundings especially comes through in the “Come to the Fun Home” TV-commercial skit they work on with little sister Alison – darkly “fun” in the conventional sense of the word.

Alison herself is portrayed by three actors:

Julie Lyn Barber is splendid as Adult Alison, greeting the memories playing out before her with a grin of hard-won wisdom and an unshakable sense of regret. Sharing her lack of certainty ironically makes her a more reliable narrator.

Emery Haley is Medium Alison, the college freshman discovering herself while struggling to understand her father – unaware their last day together will be their last day ever. Her coming out – first to herself, then her family – is a relatable experience for many, and we can all sense her apprehension at life away from home for the first time. We share her joy as she declares she’s “Changing My Major” to making love to Joan – smartly played by Nia Hughes. Her growing anxiety over life’s changes is also palpable.

Ellie Richart has a big role as Small Allison. This is not the kind of show that says “that’s me as a kid” and moves on – many of the pieces of this play’s puzzle are revealed in her early life. Richart’s talent especially shines in “Ring of Keys” in which the subject of the song is never seen but must be realized through the girl’s description and expression; this is a pivotal moment in Alison’s young life, and Richart nails it.

Bobby Haley also does very well as the various men in Bruce’s life. Most scenes of them together come off more serene than tawdry, adding to the growing tension as the Bechdels find their life of secrets ever harder to manage.  

Music director is Kristin Cutler, choreography by Andre Williams, and stage manager is Madison Pickering. The set design by Scott Hall features large reproductions of panels from the book made by Eppich-Harris and Casey Ross.

A compelling production of the Tony-winning, Pulitzer-nominated masterpiece, “Fun Home” has four remaining performances, Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 24-27 at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis (southwest corner of Butler University campus). Get info and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.

IndyFringe: LOLCow

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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. Ticketing and other information at indyfringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

Casey Ross is not only a long-time Fringe creator, but she is also known for her brilliant ability to portray dialogue as a true conversational art form. However, since her personal tastes sometimes run only somewhat adjacent to the mainstream, she is not as well known as she deserves to be.

“LOLCow,” her latest offering, is a brilliant diatribe on Influencer Culture, the power of the internet, the price of fame, and trust in today’s world. Sadly, I feel most of her audience will not see this. Those who take the play at face value could miss the delicate nuances of the script.

While on the surface it is the story of two somewhat awful people abusing themselves and each other for their own purposes, it shows how the 24/7 news cycle and internet culture have led to the monetization and prevalence of the worst of society for the enjoyment of others. (The title references the urge to “milk” a meme for more online fame.)

I will admit that this show is not for everyone, but I request you do consider watching it, bringing an open mind and an inquisitive eye to try to catch the real message underneath the “spectacle.”

Presented by Catalyst Repertory, performances are 12:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22-23, in the Basile Theatre at IF (719 E. St. Clair).

Rock solid ‘Amadeus’

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By Wendy Carson

Catalyst Repertory presents “Amadeus,” the Tony-winning drama by Peter Shaffer that imagines a deadly rivalry between composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

For anyone who has seen the epic film version of this story (also by Shaffer), the thought of staging it on the small black-box stage of the IF Theater seems like utter madness. However, for director Casey Ross, it was just one more hurdle to overcome. Since the script details memories from the “deathbed confession” of Salieri to destroy Mozart, the need of lavish sets and huge orchestras is secondary to the plotting and intrigue of the story. Ross utilizes a more stripped-down set with gorgeous costumes and minimal props, which forces the actors to display an amazingly high level of skill, with the entire cast was more than up to the task.

The set, designed by Arden Foster Tiede, is like a flight of stairs that also suggests a balcony, an upstairs room or a throne chamber, positioned so as to require a new seating arrangement for this venue. As Ross also demonstrated with her unique staging of “Streetcar” in 2023, using vertical space in this manner profoundly opens up the small stage area, while maintaining its intimacy.

This simplicity helped me focus more on the actual dialogue and caused me to notice things that I had never considered in previous iterations. For instance, the show is titled “Amadeus” because that translates to “love of God,” which is the basis of the story. Although Salieri is convinced he made a bargain with God, these sorts of things fall more into the Devil’s milieu. Plus, since he believes that Mozart has been chosen by God, the desire to destroy such a vessel would just be a devilish delight as well.

For anyone familiar with Tristan Ross (no relation to Casey), and how he dominates every role, it was impressive to witness his ability to fade into the background when necessary and allow others to hold the spotlight as required. However, he also embodies the desperation and rage that his turn as Salieri requires.

As for the titular character of Mozart, Ian McCabe brings the role to life in a delightful manner. Being a child prodigy, it is highly likely that Mozart himself fell somewhere on the Autism spectrum and McCabe hints at this through his candor and confusion of others’ abilities. McCabe shows us a person who never really had a childhood, ironically never fully growing up, and who only desired to earn his father’s love – while easily manipulated into making choices that would prevent him from doing so.

While the story does revolve around the composers, the rest of the cast shines even in the smallest of roles. Michelle Wafford shows that regardless of her character’s commonplace background, Mozart’s wife Constanze Weber was a shrewd businesswoman who was ruthlessly in love with and devoted to her husband’s well being. The spectacularly angelic voice of Shelbi Berry Kamohara as Katerina Cavalieri shines throughout and perfectly compliments the power of Mozart’s music. Reno Moore and Jack Paganelli as Salieri’s spies in Vienna elevate what is normally thought to be lesser roles into vital moments throughout the narrative. Likewise, Yolanda Valdivia as the Cook and Brant Hughes as the Valet prove that one does not require speaking lines to bring forth a solid performance. However, nobody embodies this idea more than Alaine Sims as Teresa Salieri. With her heart-shaped lipstick and a flick of her eyes, she exudes volumes of dialogue unheard but greatly understood.

We also get solid performances from those in the court of Emperor Joseph II (David Mosedale), Mozart’s biggest – and in this company, nearly only – fan. Doug Powers as Rosenberg and Craig Kemp as Von Strack have little patience for the impish young man, while J. Charles Weimer as Von Swieten comes to regret bringing him into Masonic membership.

More allegory than history, the power of this production is tangible in its performance – so incredible that, like the Emperor, all we can say is a bewildered “There it is!”

Performances are Friday through Sunday, through May 17, at the IF, 719 E. St. Clair, Indianapolis. Info at catalystrepertory.org; tickets at indyfringe.org.

Enter the shadowy world of ‘M’

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By John Lyle Belden

Never a company to shy away from dark material, Catalyst Repertory presents “M,” a new play based on an old movie, written and directed by Tristan Ross. The original, by legendary German film pioneer Fritz Lang in 1931, was a predecessor to the genre of film noir. Being Lang’s first picture with sound, he innovated with it in ways that still inspire today’s filmmakers.

Ross captures the feeling of entrapment in a black-and-white world with the audience on three sides of the black-box Everwise Stage (formerly Indy Eleven) surrounded by heavy dark curtains. Entering and exiting this space feels like a labyrinth. Actors’ costumes are in blacks, greys and browns, with among a spare few props bright red balloons for effective contrast.

Voices literally surround us with some lines delivered by obscured actors behind the curtains or prerecorded. Little girls are puppets (provided by Beverly Roche) with vague innocent faces, ethereally voiced offstage by Kristin Watson Heintz. Technical director Arden Tiede and lighting designer Tim Dick assist with the noir effects, including fog and image projections, with graphic assistance by Catalyst founder Casey Ross.

As in the original story, by Lang with Thea von Harbou, there is a serial killer, known as “the Midnight Man,” attacking young girls. Ten have been brutally murdered when Mrs. Beckmann (Maria Meschi) discovers her Elsie is missing. Among the last to encounter the child alive was a friendly blind man (Craig Kemp) who we discover is a homeless former lawyer who manages through barter to get balloons to sell to neighborhood children. Police Chief Lohman (James Mannan) and Detective Grodin (Kirk Fields) find an unseeing “witness” only the beginning of their frustrations, as practically no clues are found and suspect leads go nowhere.

Meanwhile, the criminal community has grown frustrated with massively increased police activity and a fearful population cutting deeply into their “business.” Plus, even hardened criminals have no patience with child murder. Thus, one of their leaders, Breaker (Tristan Ross) leads an underworld search for the Midnight Man, with the help of thief Frank (Jeff Stratfer) and club/brothel owner Sharp (Austin Hookfin), with the Balloon Vendor working the “invisible” street people.

Another genre-inspiring aspect of this story is that the audience sees the perpetrator early on, one of the early plots about a killer’s descending madness and the other characters’ struggle to find and stop him. Normal-looking John Beckert (J. Charles Weimer) is locked in a cycle of obsession and predation. He acts quickly once a random potential victim is sighted, this being both a sign of dangerous impulsivity and part of what makes him impossible to predict.

However, eventually good detective work, and a vital clue realized by the balloon man, lead cops and crooks each to close in on Beckert. Which will get to him first, and what will “justice” be when they do?

The story is appropriately taut, tense and not as predictable as you would think, even as events feel inevitable. The acting is outstanding. Meschi, a mother herself, compellingly communicates the horror and desperation of Beckmann’s grief and need for answers and resolution. Kemp easily portrays his blindness without any broad gestures, his eyes looking nowhere as he “sees” with his hearing and speaks with clear voice to ensure understanding. Fields seems to toy with stereotype, at first an ineffective cop but proving his worth as Grodin realizes the right details to give his attention. Mannan gives us the Chief who is both police and bureaucrat, under frustrating pressure on both sides. Our underworld trio effectively play close to type – Stratfer’s Frank jittery nervous, Hookfin’s Sharp ever suave, and Ross’s Breaker deeply intimidating. (In the movie, the latter’s character is a safecracker, here he seems to be an enforcer; either way, his leather gloves are apropos.)

For his part, Weimer gives us an emotionally driven performance that gives insight into Beckert’s disordered mind and personal horror. This “monster” is given neither justification nor supernatural menace; as is noted during the search, he is “a man, like one of us.”

Consider the title to stand for Midnight Man, or “Murderer” as Lang did, or even the Roman numeral as the killer states “there will be a thousand more” if he is not caught. Regardless, find Catalyst’s “M,” with performances through July 7 at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at indyfringe.org.

‘Bat in the Wind’ flutters back

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By John Lyle Belden

Write what you know. That’s the universal advice to writers, and some, like novelist Stephen King, turn the muse inward and pen stories about those who pen stories. As a longtime friend (though not as long as some) of playwright Casey Ross, I have seen her blinking cursor return – between indulgences in the silly or geeky – to the shadows of memory and the recrafting of friends made and lost into characters who are new, yet familiar.

She may even agree that the King reference is apt, as he and she both know that it is within the mind where true monsters lie. Bringing those beasties out into the light seemed to be one of the goals of the “Gallery” trilogy she introduced at IndyFringe almost two decades ago. From the start, she presented flawed people with flawed relationships in a way that reminds us that those aspects are baked into the hardware of humanity, not something to be blithely resolved in the third act.

With her most personal work, she lays bare the struggles of a playwright striving to understand their own art in “Bat in the Wind,” which has returned to the IndyFringe Theatre, this time on the more intimate Indy Eleven stage. Last August’s premiere during the 2023 IndyFringe Festival featured a script that was carefully trimmed down to Fringe-show length (under an hour). The updated Catalyst Repertory production, directed by Zachariah Stonerock and clocking in at about an hour and a half (no intermission), is restored, not padded out. Nothing feels extra, and motivations and conversations even gain clarity.

Matt Craft returns as Taylor, a 26-year-old writer who has found himself single, near broke, and suddenly without electricity. This on top of the fact that the prose that should be a brilliant play about the human condition just sits there lifeless on his laptop screen. But before he can attempt to remedy that, he must go next door to his duplex neighbor, Randy (Dane Rogers), a slovenly older man who appears to care about nothing but sustaining his alcoholism. The first thing he says at any conversation is a slurred, “You’re not mad at me, are you?” – in case there was something bad he said or did during a blackout.

The play is subtitled, “A Recent Study on Depression and Addiction,” which at first glance is a reference to poor Randy. However, it’s easy to sniff out your own kind, and in his more lucid moments, he reminds Taylor (and us) that our frustrated wordsmith is an addict as well – and he’s got it bad.

Like a drunk bargaining with his demons, Taylor thinks he has a way of getting his literary high with no danger of personal pain. To write about what he knows, creative folk, he makes the characters in his play photographers, not writers. (This puzzles Randy, but in this writer’s opinion it’s a tactic of distance, the creator always on the safe side of the camera, apart from any action or drama. I note this parenthetically in case Casey tells me I got it wrong.)

Taylor prides himself on being a keen observer, using parts of those he watches to bring truth to his fictional scenes. Randy calls him on treating people like musical instruments, “not everyone likes to be played!” This humbling moment passes, though, and Taylor makes a fragile promise to his “interesting” neighbor. But like a bottle or needle, the muse calls.

All this, in what is technically a dark comedy. Ross’s penchant for dialogue that feels natural yet has every phrase weighted with meaning also generates a surprising number of laughs. Rogers’ no-nonsense deadpan delivery helps immensely, with the real-life absurdity of dealing with someone who’s blotto without comic buffoonery. Randal Leach may be a drunk, but he must be respected.

Craft finds himself the butt of laughter just as often. His constant striving wins our sympathy, despite the fact that he’s morose and manic (the pot and occasional hits of coke don’t help) like someone perpetually treading water, unaware and in fear of how deep in he is. His months-long experience with the role fits him like a second skin.

I must note that, as those with low means tend to indulge in affordable vices, there is a large amount of smoking of lit stage cigarettes in this show. The language – true to Ms. Ross’s style – is as salty as ever.

Also, the ending feels like it lends itself to an unrevealed epilogue, or even a third act. Consider that part being after the lights go up and you are left sitting with your thoughts. Perhaps it’s when you return to see Catalyst’s remounting of “Gallery” this summer. Maybe it’s when you finally sit down to write your next masterpiece, the blinking cursor beckoning like an old habit.

“Bat in the Wind (Or a Recent Study on Depression & Addiction)” has performances March 8-10 and 15-17 at 719 E. St. Clair, Indianapolis. Get tickets at indyfringe.org, more info at catalystrepertory.org or the company Facebook page.

Catalyst’s ‘Starmites’ shine

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By John Lyle Belden

First a few disclaimers: Wendy and I are good friends with Casey Ross and adore everything she does. Furthermore, as little children John and Wendy watched ‘70s Saturday Morning cartoons and enjoyed the trippy creations of Sid & Marty Krofft; also, John’s favorite movies include the animated “Yellow Submarine” and the cheese-tastic 1980 flick “Flash Gordon.” For younger readers here, think the goofy fun of the live-action Power Rangers shows.

Where I am going with all this is to set your expectations for Ross’s lifelong passion project, the unlikely Broadway cult classic “Starmites,” which she has adapted with the blessing of its creators, Barry Keating and Stuart Ross (no relation). Designed and directed by Casey Ross, this Catalyst Repertory production is on the Basile stage of the IndyFringe Theatre through Oct. 14.

In our current world, twenty-ish girl-at-heart Eleanor (Jaelynn Keating [again, no relation]) is too attached to her comic book collection, especially the obscure 80’s sci-fi hero series “Starmites.” As she flips the pages of the Legend of Milady, just a dimension or two away the actual defenders of Innerspace sense that a beautiful young woman has picked up the “sacred texts.” Could she be the Milady foretold? They call out to her.

Eleanor hears voices, which convinces Mom (Damaris Burgin) she is right to have the comics slipped back into their protective sleeves and sold to the neighborhood bookshop. But as the girl puts her collection away, she is suddenly whisked away to Innerspace by the wicked Shak Graa (Paul Hansen).

Our villain wants the Milady prophesy fulfilled, as it will reveal his most sinister creation, the Cruelty, a (musical) instrument of torture. Not believing any of this is happening, Eleanor evades him and encounters Spacepunk (Joseph Massingale), leader of the Starmites – gadget tech Ack Ack (Bradley Allen Lowe), goofy Razzledolf (Noah Nordman) and suave Harrison (Matthew Blandford). Faced with painfully naïve boys in men’s bodies who are stuck (since their comic was cancelled in 1994), she decides that either this is somehow real, or at least the best way out of this “delusion” is through it, agreeing to join their quest to find the Cruelty ahead of Shak Graa. They are led by the lizard Trink (puppet design by Timothy Taylor), who says in a darkly familiar voice he’s seen the dread instrument in Banshee Castle – the one place the Starmites dare not go.

The castle is occupied by the man-eating band of Shotzi (Addison Koehler), Balbraka (Yolanda Valdiva), Maligna (Jessica Hawkins), and Banshee Boy (Brant Hughes), led by their dread Diva (Burgin). The way they read the texts, a true Princess must marry to reveal the Cruelty, which means Diva’s daughter Bizarbara (Keating) can wed a Starmite before having the whole squad for dinner (as the main course).

So there you have it, the Hero’s Journey slash Fairy Tale slash ahead-of-its-time Female Empowerment done with catchy tunes, fun dancing, a healthy dose of humor, and low-budget aesthetic – in its context, a delightfully entertaining feast for the inner child in all of us. Inspired by the books of the Comics Code Authority era, beyond a little middle-school innuendo this is an all-ages show – the rare Casey Ross production without a single F-bomb.

Troupers that they are, the cast commit to this otherworldliness, especially Hansen, delivering an over-the-top villain with a wild smile and manic evil laugh, as well as literally puppeting Trink from the shadows that seem to follow our heroes around. Massengale manages to project his leading-man persona through the colorful wig and immature – though willing to learn – worldview, like a noble flightless Peter Pan. Starmites and Banshees alike also put their all into this. Keating’s character(s) may or may not be the prophesied heroine, but she is very much the star of this show. Her songs are limited, making her powerhouse voice especially stand out. Fortunately, they include a duet with Burgin, whose soulful voice is her superpower.

As some original music was lost, music director Billy Sharfenberger helped with arrangements; he leads the stage-right band of Caleb Hamilton, Graham Bethal and Travis Zinck. Kathy Hoefgen is stage manager (aided by Hughes).

Granted, this is not your typical musical, or familiar material, but we earnestly feel this is worth taking the chance. Step into Innerspace and the experience that is “Starmites.” Find the stage at 719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis; tickets at indyfringe.org.

Catalyst creates outstanding ‘Streetcar’

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By Wendy Carson and John Lyle Belden

With all of the winter weather we are having, it is satisfying to have Catalyst Repertory bring us a steamy trip to 1950s New Orleans with its imaginative production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

The first clue to the uniqueness of the show is the inventive set design of Nick Kilgore. He has basically cut apart the walls and rooms of an apartment house to make them easily flow into each other without losing each location’s identity. The actors enter, exit, and perform within the full 360 degrees of set as well as multiple levels available to them. With the size of the stage, you might think this is incredibly cramped, but it never feels claustrophobic. In fact, the layout causes a rare intimacy to occur between the troupe and audience, seated “in the round,” which makes the whole a more enjoyable evening. A couple of pieces – a bedroom vanity, a nearby bar piano – even extend into the audience space naturally. The concessions bar for patrons at intermission is even part of the set, suggesting a piece of nearby Bourbon Street.

For those unfamiliar with the tale: Fading Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Sara Castillo Dandurand) turns up on the shabby doorstep of her younger sister, Stella (Anna Himes) and Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski (Ian McCabe). Blanche lives in a world of delusion she consistently concocts to keep her from realizing that she is desperate, alone, old, and without any other place to go. After months of living with her disdain and lying, Stanley is determined to send her packing.

This description, of course, doesn’t do justice to the genius of Williams’ drama, and in the practiced hands of director Casey Ross – herself an artisan of plot and dialogue – narrative richness and tension as thick as Louisiana humidity imbues the play from start to finish.  

Dandurand transforms into Blanche, wearing her pride like a fading flower, masking dysfunction with flirtatious charm so well it fools everyone – except Stanley. For his part, McCabe ably puts on Kowalski’s working-man swagger. He is devoted to Stella, but has issues (to put it mildly), complete with a low-simmering rage fed by a lifetime of being called a Pollack, among other things. Perhaps the fact he has to present a public mask helps him detect Blanche’s. The two circle each other throughout, like a pampered cat and a mangy dog, claws out, fangs in their smiles. Himes is also wonderful as a Stella who sees the good in Stanley, is eagerly the yin to his yang, and tries to be at peace with the fact her debutante days may be gone forever.

Making a stunning dramatic debut is Brian DeHeer as Mitch Mitchell, Stanley’s bowling and poker buddy who knew him since their WWII service together. Feeling lonely as he tends to his ailing mother, Mitch starts falling for Blanche – it won’t be a soft landing. 

In excellent support are Audrey Stonerock and Matt Kraft as neighbors Eunice and Steve Hubbell, as well as Tom Alvarez as poker buddy Pablo, Mitchell Wray as a boy who comes around, and Viviana Quinones as a local flower-seller. Alvarez’s partner in Magic Thread Cabaret (a co-producer), Dustin Klein, tickles the ivories at the corner piano, with old tunes and his new compositions to underscore the action. At the club microphone is the exquisite voice of Courtney Wiggins. David Mosedale and Wendy Brown complete the cast, mainly in the final scene.

For either those new to “Streetcar,” or Williams fanatics looking for something fresh, we cannot recommend this production enough. There are adult themes and herbal cigarettes (though perhaps the first-ever Ross-directed play without an F-bomb), yet if you can take the heat, you won’t regret the experience of this scorching masterpiece.

Performances run Fridays through Sundays, through March 19 at the IndyFringe Basile Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair, Indianapolis. For tickets, go to IndyFringe.org.

IndyFringe: Tortillo 3, Sombrero’s Revenge

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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 Wendy Carson

Casey Ross has brought back another chapter in the never-ending saga of the Tortillo Corporation and its unfortunate predicament of having cocaine mixed into the seasoning mix for their chips, again. Again.

Presenting “Tortillo 3: Sombrero’s Revenge,” by Ross’s Catalyst Repertory. Even though this is the third installment of the series, you do not have to have seen the previous ones to understand or enjoy it. In fact, highlights of the first two shows are shown prior to beginning of the performance. The cast has an opening number discussing the past events as well.

We begin with put-up Patrick (Dave Pelsue) dealing with imbecilic customer complaints as well as disappointment in the company overlooking his accomplishments.

While Dave (Robert Webster, Jr.) is trying to keep things in the company on an even keel, his decision to bring back the sexist pig, Steve (Matt Anderson) to head up their pretzel division has caused much distress throughout the company even with his wife (Lisa Marie Smith) and their baby Chip. After a heated board meeting, Patrick quits to pursue his dreams.

While Steve and his idiot nephew, Mitchell (Ryan Powell) – Patrick’s cellmate during chapter 2 – are doing research, it’s discovered that the chips are doped yet again, leaving Patrick as the prime suspect.

Will we find out who was behind this nefarious plot? Will Sombrero actually return? Who exactly is the lovely Madeline (Trick Blanchfield) and why does she seem to know so much about Patrick’s past? Also, why is Ted (Tristan Ross, no relation) even here – didn’t we kill him already? That’s not THE John Entwistle (Brian Kennedy) as our Janitor/Narrator, is it?

These burning questions and many more will be answered (whether you want them to or not) in this crazy show. Watch, laugh, enjoy, and be ready in case this gang cooks up another sequel.

Note Casey likes writing the F-word, otherwise it’s OK for teens and up, with performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27-28; and Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, Sept. 1 and 3; at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair.

Catalyst tells troubling tales with ‘Pillowman’

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By John Lyle Belden

I’ll admit some bias up front: Wendy and I are good friends with Casey Ross, and longtime supporters of her plays and work as founder of Catalyst Repertory. Wendy is also a big fan of Martin McDonagh’s very dark comedy, “The Pillowman.”

Still, I hope you believe us when we say that Catalyst’s Ross-directed production of “Pillowman” at the IndyFringe Theatre is perfectly cast and brilliantly executed (pardon the apt turn of phrase).

For those unfamiliar with the play, the setup misleads you. In a fictional dictatorship, the State Police arrest and detain a writer of stories for children. At first, it appears that this is a political persecution, a free expression issue. But though the officers do routinely violate citizens’ civil rights, it turns out they have a good reason for interrogating Katurian Katurian (Taylor Cox) and his mentally handicapped brother Michal (Dane Rogers) – brutal child murders that resemble the plots of Katurian’s stories.

Dave Pelsue is lead detective Tupolski, with Matthew Walls as Detective Ariel, who plays “bad cop” (complete with custom-built torture device). Given the heinous nature of the crimes, they feel quite justified in their tactics. Katurian, well aware of this, tries in vain to assert his innocence. When he finally spends time with Michal, he finds the situation even more bleak than he had feared.

During the course of the narrative, we also see recitations of the macabre tales, acted by Rachel Snyder and David Rosenfield as the cruel Mother and Father, Eleanor Turner as the young Boy, and Lane Snyder as the little Girl. McDonagh’s stories within the story have the bizarre air of popular fiction by writers like Roald Dahl, but the playwright has said his inspiration goes further back, to the dark, original versions of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and the traditional stories of his Irish childhood. Such fables were meant to teach children lessons, but Katurian seems to enjoy the maimings and torture of his writings a bit much – perhaps owing to his own dysfunctional childhood, revealed in his lone “autobiographical” story, “The Writer and the Writer’s Brother.”

Ross also incorporates shadow puppetry in the telling of his stories, and a lifesize plush version of the title character. The Pillowman is Katurian’s attempt to make sense of the senseless things that happen to children, including himself and Michal, while incorporating a fatalistic outlook. 

Performances are exceptional. Pelsue has the tough-SOB archetype down, and gives us a perfect calm-but-simmering veteran cop. Walls plays a man who has a human layer under the professional inquisitor, but makes you earn getting a glimpse of it. Cox doesn’t look like the kind of person who can survive such an interrogation, but he finds some fight within him. 

As for Rogers’s Michal, he keeps it “simple” without being an insensitive caricature. Comparisons with Lennie of “Of Mice and Men” are unavoidable – and purely by coincidence, there is a production of Steinbeck’s story now on stage in Westfield. But while the classic big man felt absolutely no malice, Michal’s damaged past allows for dark vengeance, and pain is just part of a child’s story.

“There are no heroes,” Ross told me. All four men enter the story broken, and not all will leave alive. As for the stories, 400 manuscripts sitting in document boxes, it is their fate that is the main question. Will they survive? Should they? 

Performances continue Feb. 18-20 at the IndyFringe Basile Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair, Indianapolis, and streaming Feb. 25-27 on Broadway on Demand. For info and tickets, visit catalystrepertory.org or indyfringe.org.

IndyFringe: Copyright/Safe

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This is part of IndyFringe 2021, Aug. 19-Sept. 5 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson and John L. Belden

Playwright Casey Ross has brought to the Fringe her love letter to the comics industry, particularly Marvel and its X-Men franchise.

In “Copyright/Safe,” the characters are members of a superhero team who are self-aware in a manner much like professional wrestlers — they know their lives are scripted, but it still hurts when they fall.

The show begins with Badger (Dave Pelsue) and Creature (Doug Powers) graveside, mourning the loss of their creator. With his passing, the team’s future seems to be in limbo, adding to the tension among team members. Eyepatch (Zach Stonerock), the ersatz leader, is missing and while their final issue is at the printer, no one seems to know what the future holds.

Badger deals with the situation by drinking heavily and expressing his feelings through music (songs written by Pelsue) at his small club. He also tolerates sharing his apartment with Mask (Taylor Cox) a fan-fiction character who appeared in an episode of the Z-Men cartoon, which makes him an official part of the world.

Whether or not you are familiar with comic books, the very real dynamic of a group of people wondering about their futures is indentifiable to all. Ross is brilliant at tense and relatable dialogue, even in a setting such as this. For fans of “sequential art,” note that atmospherically this play brings the style of a graphic novel to life better than most superhero films.

This touching drama is also comic in the sense of having truly hilarious moments.

One important note, however: though comic books are traditionally for children, the language in this show is quite “Rated M for Mature.”

Performances are in the IndyFringe Theatre.