comedy

Energetic elders ferret out funny business in CSCT’s ‘Follies’

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By Wendy Carson

Welcome to the Pleasant Valley Retirement Home. It’s a typical Monday morning, but nothing here is quite so simple. Thus begins Lebanon’s Center Stage Community Theater’s production of “Senior Follies” by Billy Wayne St. John. While one might assume from the title that this will be a story involving some sort of show or pageant, that is not at all the case. The “follies” here are of the sensibilities of those involved.

We begin with Mildred Rice (Mary Kay Ferguson) and Sara Jane Dinsmore (Cindy Duncan) casually gossiping while putting together a jigsaw puzzle. One of their main issues is with Howard Phelps (Kevin Van Horn) and his constantly overt flirtations, sometimes ending up with bruises from the pinches. Their friend Bernice Thompson (Janie Lank) has promised to have her husband Douglas (Peter Fowle) have a talk with Howard to set him straight.

Mrs. Rivers (Jada Cannell), director of the facility, has brought two new residents for introductions, Sybil Thackery (Jackae Johnson) and her brother Lowell (Scott Post). Of course, Howard homes in on Sybil and their whirlwind romance begins. Lowell seems to favor Iris Cunningham (Teresa Dittemore) but her overdose of diuretics is playing havoc with their time together.

We quickly find out that the Thackerys are not at all what they seem and have nefarious plans for Howard and Iris. Mildred, Sara Jane, and Bernice are wary of the newcomers and their rapid romancing of their friends. Needless to say, things drama keeps swinging around as often as the two peacocks on the mantle which everyone seems to need to rearrange.

While the plot may seem rather straightforward, the dialogue is where this show truly shines. The quips throughout are absolutely hilarious. My particular favorites were the reference to a couple of the residents skinny dipping in the hot tub as “Rub-a-dub-dub, two nudes in a tub” and Howard’s lack of understanding of why the Thompsons would have a pair of handcuffs in their room.

Director Richelle Lutz does a great job of keeping the drama and the comedy at a tight balance so that the show keeps itself only very slightly self-aware. Being a small theater, makeup and costumes mainly fall to each of the actors, however, whomever came up with the design for Mildred’s makeover in act two should win an award for effects.

John and I thank Lutz for inviting us out to Lebanon to see this on its sold-out closing night. CSCT next presents “An Evening of Culture,” May 3-19 in their cozy confines at 604 Powell St. Get information and tickets at centerstagecommunitytheatre.com or follow on Facebook.

‘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.

IRT presents ‘Folks’ in a comic situation

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By John Lyle Belden

The situation comedy, a/k/a sitcom, is primarily an American invention, and in its many settings often reflects an aspect of the American Dream. But put something that could be made into a TV pilot on a stage with no cameras – just the live audience – and you find that the difference between a “Full House” and “A Raisin in the Sun” becomes little more than the laugh track.

This is the genre-testing approach of R. Eric Thomas’s “The Folks at Home,” in its second-ever production, presented by Indiana Repertory Theatre (its premiere was in Baltimore, where the story is set).

Young married couple Brandon and Roger (Garrett Young and Keith Illidge) are hitting what could be a rough patch. The big house they bought is changing from a wise investment to a burden as Roger has trouble finding a job; still, Brandon has things budgeted so they can stay until they sell the house – which Roger privately doesn’t want to do. Also, the ghost put the mail in the refrigerator again.

While Brandon’s at work, Roger’s parents Pamela and Vernon (Oliva D. Dawson and Sean Blake) arrive, informing him that their house is in foreclosure, and they are going to have to move in. Later, Brandon’s says-whatever’s-in-her-head mother Maureen (Tracy Michelle Arnold) shows up, stating that since she’s between jobs and living situations, her son said she could move in. Then the “maid” Alice (Claire Wilcher) abruptly arrives to clean off the dust and bad vibes.

As they say in the biz, hilarity ensues.

It’s interesting to guess all the possible classic sitcom influences jammed into this play – “Odd Couple,” “All in the Family,” “Jeffersons,” “Roseanne/Conners,” “Ghosts,” “Modern Family,” you name it – but that would be a disservice to Thomas and director Reggie D. White. In this homage to problems that work out in half an hour of wholesome humor, we see what happens when the issues don’t stop when the theme song kicks back in. Just as many teleplays are based on lived experiences in family homes, this fictional family sees things getting real between the quippy one-liners and odd misunderstandings.

Even with the ever-lurking drama, there are some belly-laugh comic moments, including the always-awkward “family meeting,” and the arrival in Act 2 of Wilcher as Brandon’s very pregnant sister Brittany, eager to dispense her “crock-pot” wisdom. The cast give us unique characters that still suggest archetypes – Maureen a bit Archie Bunker, Vernon a bit George Jefferson, Brandon and Roger like pals of Will and Grace – which like those personae keep them relatable to folks we know or people we’ve been. Given more than a half-hour for the plot to play out, it’s like binging a short season’s arc (complete with Intermission for a break) to see how all the storylines resolve. Funny, uplifting, and NOT available on Netflix or any other streaming service. Catch “The Folks at Home” at the IRT, 140 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, through March 16. Get tickets and information at irtlive.com.

Fabulous flora in drag ‘Little Shop’

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By John Lyle Belden

To borrow from an unrelated comedy gang who put male bodies in dresses: Now for something completely different.

Indy Drag Theatre was in full bloom at the District Theatre with its production of “Little Shop of (W)Horrors:  A Drag Parody Musical.” The fairly new local company took on a mostly straight (ha-ha) presentation of the movie-turned-Broadway-turned-movie, but done by drag queens, kings, and other genderfluid royalty. In the true spirit of the Drag art form, emphasizing spectacle and visual parody and satire – in the most *fabulous* manner possible – our performers expertly lip-synch the lines and songs from Broadway and film audio, but what you see on the stage is even more entertaining than most renditions of the classic boy/girl/man-eating-plant story.

With no scenes drastically altered, this serves to inform or remind those unfamiliar with the source work. However, if you know what happens, it becomes awesome on another level. Shoddy-sheik staging and costumes match both the story and the tongue-in-cheek mood. Dance numbers both advance the story and “work it” a la a Ru-Paul revue. In the best melding of the already-goofy musical and this milieu, our star houseplant, Audrey II, transforms from the standard hand-puppet to the toxic fabulousness of Ciara Myst.*

Other principal cast members include Parker Taylor as Seymour Krelborn, the Skid Row orphan who discovers the plant; Pancha La Flor as Audrey, the sweet girl at the flower shop Seymour is sweet on and the sadistic Dentist (Beelzebabe) beats on; Eli Rose as florist Mr. Mushnik; and our hot chorus of backups Ava Morningstar (as Crystal), April Rosè (Chiffon), and Devin Hill (Ronette).

Also on stage are Axel Rosie, Drucilla Demora, Blue Lightning, and understudies Jared Matthew, Zariah, and Kalinda Morningstar.

Taylor, who has been brilliant in recent regular stage productions, puts their talent to excellent use – one who would be great a century ago mouthing and emoting a silent film. La Flor is not the beanpole actress you usually get for Audrey, kind of like if Broadway had tapped a young Jennifer Coolidge, but she makes it all work (in both senses of the word) wonderfully. As for Ms. Myst, the ability to strut the whole stage makes this fierce flytrap more dangerous than in any other medium.

Direction is by Krystie Roberts, with choreography by April Rosè, IDT’s co-founder (with creative director Blair St. Clair).

If you are a teen (with cool parents) or older and hip to any of this at all, it is a must that you support this marvelous meld of “holla”- worthy entertainment (and yes, whooping it up is encouraged, but slip your dollar bills into their Venmo). Remaining performances are Thursday through Sunday, Feb.  22-25, at the District Theatre, 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis. Get tickets (including VIP) and info at indydistrictthe.org or indydragtheatre.com.

*

[*In keeping with the culture and respecting personal boundaries, if the Drag name is all we are given for a performer (which is as unique and individual as what’s on their driver’s license anyway), that’s all we publish.]

Laughs and love at The Cat

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By John Lyle Belden

There’s something funny going on at The Cat in downtown Carmel: the fun musical “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”

The show, written by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, is a series of musical skits reflecting love from first meeting to long after the wedding. Christian Condra, JB Scoble, Sara Castillo Dandurand, and Abby Okerson perform in various couplings throughout. Being no strangers to silliness, Condra and Scoble direct.

In keeping with his on-stage appearances, we get Condra in his underwear in record time. Nobody gets stripped beyond their skivvies, but there is some mature content, so consider this for teens and up.

Dating is a pain, marriage is a pain, family are a pain – so why are we laughing? This foursome gladly suffer for our pleasure, complete with swirling props and physical gags as well as the hilarious punchlines.

Music is nicely provided onstage by Gisele Dollinger and Evan Wang.

For your post-Valentine entertainment, you’ll love “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 15-18 at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, Carmel. Get info and tickets at thecat.biz.

‘Lost’ in Simon’s wartime family drama

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By John Lyle Belden

You see a dozen shows by Neil Simon, you think you’d know what to expect – the farce of Rumors; or goofy relationships of The Odd Couple; or sweet (and a bit bitter) memories of Brighton Beach; or hilarious razor wit of Goodbye Girl.

For those unfamiliar with “Lost in Yonkers,” Simon’s 1990 Pulitzer-winning play presented by Main Street Productions in Westfield, note that many of his comedies’ hallmarks are present, but with a dark edge that is too real to completely laugh away. With the sharp rap of Grandma’s cane, wisecracks cease. The exaggerated aspects of characters come not in caricature but from coping with lifelong trauma.

In 1942 (America’s first full year in World War II) Eddie Kurnitz (Matt McKee) has to settle debts from his wife’s fatal battle with cancer, so takes a traveling job gathering scrap metal for the War effort. Thus he leaves his sons, 15 “and a half” Jay (Drake Lockwood) and 13 “and a half” Arty (Finley Eyers) with his mother in Yonkers (just outside New York City). Grandma Kurnitz (Lisa Warner Lowe), who escaped from Germany years ago to raise Eddie and his siblings in as strict and unsentimental a manner as possible to prepare them for what she sees as an unrelentless cruel world, is unpleased with his plan, but tolerates it at the request of Bella (Becca Bartley), her daughter whose ever-diverting mind stays in a childlike state.

Grandma owns and runs the candy store on the first floor of their building, which ironically becomes hell for the boys who find themselves penalized for every morsel that goes missing, whether it was their doing or not.

Meanwhile, Eddie’s brother Louie (Thom Johnson) shows up, with a wary eye out the window. He’s a bag man for shady characters who now want what he’s secreted in the bag. Gangsters being cool to teen boys, as well as the desire for cash to get his father out of debt and back home, Jay and Arty try to win his favor.

We also meet Aunt Gert (Maggie Meier), who has an unintentionally comical respiratory issue, when Bella gathers the family for what could be a momentous announcement if she can string the thoughts together.

Dark comedy derives a lot of chuckles from situational humor, and Simon serves that well here, but we are more drawn in by the layered drama of a family whose dysfunction runs deep, apt for one of the most stressful eras for any American. There is a method to the matriarch’s cruelty, and grudging admission of benefit, but it’s still difficult to justify. The damage is plain in every one of Grandma’s offspring, but especially Bella, as Bartley gives a brilliantly endearing and heartbreaking performance. Lowe, for her part, delivers both the cold exterior and fire within that keeps Grandma both feared and respected, with fleeting moments of wry German humor that keep us all off-balance. With Uncle Louie, Johnson maintains an air of Cagney-cool with just a touch of paranoia in knowing his gangland adventure ain’t a movie. Lockwood and Eyers keep the youths as smart-alecky and immature as you’d expect, but, as kids do, learning to adapt to their situation.

Jen Otterman directs, with assistance from stage manager Monya Wolf. The comfy but no-frills living-room set is by Ian Marshall-Fisher.

Get “Lost in Yonkers” this Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 14-18, at Basile Wesfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St., Westfield. For an extra treat, concessions include versions of “Kurnitz Kandies” with proceeds benefiting MSP’s scholarship program. Get tickets and information at WestfieldPlayhouse.org.

Belfry: One ticket to double over laughing

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By John Lyle Belden

When it comes to the comedy “One Man, Two Guvnors,” presented through Sunday at Fishers’ Switch Theatre by The Belfry Theatre, you don’t have to know that it’s the play that helped bring James Corden to international acclaim.

You don’t even have to know that the script by Richard Bean is adapted from the commedia dell’arte play “The Servant of Two Masters,” by Carlo Goldoni, though that helps to understand the broad comic style with characters that fit satirical and absurd archetypes, updated with British cheekiness including wink-wink-nudge-nudge asides to the audience and at least one woman dressed as a man. I sat in the very back row, and to me all the slapstick gestures were as big as life and twice as funny.

If you sit in the very front row – perhaps something you should be aware of – don’t be surprised if you become part of the show.

What’s important is that this community production of the London/Broadway hit is hilarious and sharply served up, especially by our central servant Francis (Mason Odle), who – because food costs money and he’s starving – takes on employment from two well-to-do gents.

Set in the English seaside resort town of Brighton in 1963 (which was to London like Miami Beach was to New York, a place for underworld types to relax), Francis arrives as “Minder” for Roscoe Crabbe (Rylee Odle), who is to marry Pauline (Anabella Lazarides), daughter of Charlie the Duck (Eric Bowman). But she is in love with passionate (over)actor Alan Dangle (Josh Rooks), which would work if the rumor of Roscoe’s death were true.

To give us our properly convoluted plot, Roscoe arrives, but is really (shh!) his “identical” twin sister
Rachel in disguise! Also at the hotel is upperclass twit Stanley Stubbers (Bailey Hunt), who (1) arrived from London hoping to lay low after accidently multiple-stabbing Roscoe, (2) has had a secret relationship with Rachel, and (3) is just daft enough for Francis to take on secretly as a second employer – easy money, right?

Also along on this romp are Laura Wertz; Malcolm Marshall; Dwayne Lewis; Amy Buell; Tom Burek; Nikki Lynch as Dolly, Charlie’s feminist bookkeeper and object of Francis’s affection; and Trever Brown as Alfie, the nearly-deaf, doddering 87-year-old waiter who’s having a painfully bad day.

I’m not British so the accents sounded all right to me, including Marshall’s sweet Jamaican lilt, and the Program includes a glossary to local jargon. In any tone, the jokes all land in one uproarious situation after another. Mason Odle’s Francis is appropriately happy-go-lucky, staying just ahead of Brown’s scene-stealing antics and Hunt’s silly bluster, as well as Rylee Odle’s cleverness and comic timing. And Rooks, is an ACTOR!

Director Andrea Odle delivers a spectacle of smart comedy with this bunch who collectively lower the average IQ in Brighton. Francis keeps confusing his two Guvnors’ letters and personal items, true love is endangered at every turn, Alan desires to literally fight a gangster for Pauline’s hand, and Alfie has fallen down again – best you come see how all this mess turns out.

Performances are Thursday through Sunday at Switch Theatre at Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy, 10029 E. 126th St., Fishers. Get info and tickets at TheBelfryTheatre.com.

Romantic battle of wits in BCP’s ‘Moon’

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By John Lyle Belden

Growing into your teen years is tough enough. But for a genius-IQ girl in a dull west Pennsylvania town in the 1980s with a single Mom who is a bit of a free spirit, the prospect of a new man in their life is a bit much to deal with. Fortunately, a lifelong friend is there to help.

In “Moon Over the Brewery,” by Bruce Graham, presented by Buck Creek Players, Amanda is our 13-year-old with this conundrum. Randolph, the (invisible to others) paternal-looking friend with a posh accent and wearing whatever was in the last book she read, has returned to delve into the mystery of the “midnight laugher.” They suspect this is a new bad decision for her mother, Miriam, a woman who stopped art school to become a diner waitress to raise her daughter – but never abandoned art, as she works on paintings of nightscapes as well as sculpture and a beautifully assembled quilt. The latter, Amanda (who minds the checkbook) plans to sell for top dollar.

Suddenly at their doorstep, there is an odd, mildly chubby mail carrier saying he is Warren Zimmerman, Miriam’s new beau. Amanda stands inside with Randolph at her shoulder: let the games begin.

This quirky comedy with quirky characters coalesces into a quirkier romance as our foursome come to understand each other and themselves. Brooke Dennis as Amanda is excellent as a 13-going-on-30 prodigy who at times mothers her mom but is not as mature as she feels she must be. AnnaStacia Nuffer in a brilliant debut as Miriam is a complex artistic soul who just wants everything good for everyone, hoping she could find some for herself. In her prior relationships she’s felt outvoted two-to-one by Amanda and Randolph, whom she regards not as a figment but a bogeyman who must be banished. Grant Bowen comes off a little disturbing and goofy at first as Warren; still, with genuine and easy manner he wins us as one who has eccentricities of his own but also varied life experience, just the right guy to stand toe-to-toe with an invisible man.

Tony Brazelton takes full advantage of a plum comic role; his Randolph is suave, brash, devious, protective, suspicious, sharply witty, and everything else you’d expect from a teenage girl’s id taken the form of a classic cinema leading man. His banter and mind games are highly entertaining, yet he never takes it too far, out of respect for the mistress from whose synapses he sprung, keeping him likable to the audience.

The result is a charming mashup of coming-of-age story and rom-com, with just enough weirdness to hold it together. This fun theatrical experience comes to life with the help of director Mac Bellner and technical director/stage manager R. Brian Noffke. Thanks also to young assistant directors Elsie Rau and Bennett Dilger for their work behind the scenes.

Remaining performances of “Moon Over the Brewery” are Friday through Sunday, Feb. 9-11, at the Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern Ave. (Acton Road exit off I-74), Indianapolis. For tickets and information, go to BuckCreekPlayers.com.

ALT: Big issues in small-town meeting

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By Wendy Carson

Small town politics is much more important than it appears. As we see in “The Minutes,” by Tracy Letts, a lot can happen in a single meeting, and missing it could change your whole standing within the community itself.

Such is the plight of Mr. Peel (Josh Ramsey), who missed last week’s City Council meeting to attend to his dying mom. He knows something major occurred from overhearing the others talk but only discovers it resulted in the removal of Mr. Carp (Charles Goad) from the council.

His queries to Mayor Superba (Stephen Roger Kitts II) and clerk Ms. Johnson (Susannah Quinn) get him nowhere. However, Mr. Hanratty (Scot Greenwell) is willing to help him shed a little light on the matter in return for support towards his proposal.

The council is filled with a plethora of quirky characters. Mr. Blake (Ian Cruz) is a paranoid schemer who is overly confident of the success of his bill regardless of its practicality. Mr. Breeding (Raymond Kester) is “The Weathervane” of the town but has no desire to make waves of his own. Ms. Innes (Suzanne Fleenor) has some good points to make but buries them inside a tangle of poetry and nonsense that annoys even the most even-tempered in the room. Mr. Oldfield (Len Mozzi), who served on the council the longest, has a tendency to ramble and forget things. Mr. Assalone (Tristan Ross) is “The Junkyard Dog” of the group and made even more imposing by his brother being Town Sheriff. Finally, Ms. Metz (Paige Scott), while physically present, pops so many pills that we have no idea where her mind actually is.

With the Big Cherry Heritage Festival rapidly approaching and its planning the most important thing that the Council actually does, Mr. Peel finds the unexplained absence of last week’s minutes – as well as where Mr. Carp is – to be of far greater import.

Directed by Chris Saunders for American Lives Theatre, this comic drama shows Letts’ ability to connect with and in a relatable manner reflect the personalities of small-town America. While there is much hilarity within these scenes, there is an equal amount of reality as to the inner workings of city government.

The talent level of the cast is spectacular and under Saunders’ steady hand, none of them overshadow each other and perform as a well-oiled machine.

So, who is the real hero of The Battle of Mackie Creek? What is more important, truth or the status quo? Why is the town named Big Cherry? These questions and much, much more will be answered (mostly) at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis, through Feb. 11. For tickets and information, visit phoenixtheatre.org or americanlivestheatre.org.

MD Writer delivers a good series of short plays

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By John Lyle Belden

It takes a sharp mind to become a doctor, especially a cardiologist. For Dr. Louis Janeira, add sharp wit and storytelling skill and you’ve got the prescription for a promising side gig as a writer.

As L. Jan Eira, the MD Writer, he presents “Cut Short: A series of 10-minute plays,” under the direction of Aaron Henze, at The Cat in downtown Carmel.

The talented cast of Craig Kemp, Barbara LeMay, Ian Marshall-Fisher, Greta Shambarger, and Afton Shepard take on a series of shorts that play out like the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits with a touch of gentle humor – though not all end happily.

The opening scene, “If everyone on earth dies, I can’t graduate,” sets the tone that things aren’t always as they seem, and the odd will be commonplace. I had previously seen the “Party Shoppe,” a sharp piece of science fiction that was the best part of a longer work presented at IndyFringe. Even when you can tell what’s going on, like going “Home” with Mr. H, the story still grips you with its simple drama. Naturally, the medical profession makes a couple of appearances, including one bit that takes “physician, heal thyself” in an interesting and fun direction.

Entertaining, intriguing, and well performed, this series showcases local talent in splendid fashion. Remaining performances are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way (just south of Main Street in the Carmel Arts and Design District). Get info and tickets at theMDwriter.com or thecat.biz.