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Southbank ‘Crucible’: It’s not the witches we should fear

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By John Lyle Belden

In times of turmoil, people turn to faith either for hope or, too often, to look for monsters. Such was 1692 in Massachusetts Colony, when the blending of the Puritan church and state led to tragic hysteria. Such also was the 1950s, when the Red Scare inspired playwright Arthur Miller to look back to America’s genuine witch hunt to give us “The Crucible.”

In 2025, with political chaos and crisis churning daily, Southbank Theatre mounts a production of Miller’s play with an incredibly talented and dedicated cast. The period script with a more contemporary look bridges these eras, emphasizing this story’s relevance.   

Mostly true to the historical events, the play begins with girls engaged in a mesmerizing, mysterious dance. The Rev. Parris (Doug Powers) happens upon them, and in the shock of being caught in such forbidden activity – the dancing alone being punishable – his young daughter Betty (Ellie Richart) falls unconscious. Parris is furious, not just at what appeared to be a secret rite with some participants possibly naked, but more that his slave Tituba (Kayla Bush) was leading it and his niece and ward Abigail Williams (Hannah Embree) was involved.

Word quickly spreads around the village of Salem, including rumors of witchcraft. Occult expert Rev. John Hale (J. Charles Weimer) is called in to bring calm, but instead he sees signs of the Devil at work. When pressed for an explanation, Tituba fears for her life and tells the men what they want to hear. Arrests, interrogation, trials – and finally, executions – will follow.

Farmer John Proctor (Brian G. Hartz) tries to stay uninterested; however, he had recently had an affair with Abigail, who feels she should take the place of his wife Elizabeth (Morgan Morton) and lists her as an accomplice in her “confession” to witchcraft (giving names being a necessary step to avoid hanging). Also, the Proctors’ servant Mary Warren (Liz Carrier) has been attending and testifying at the court hearings.

We also meet Thomas and Ann Putnam (Darin Richart and Afton Shepard), wealthy landowners with both financial (property of witches is seized and sold) and spiritual (most of their children died in infancy) interest in goings-on. Francis Nurse (James Mannan) finds his wife, the midwife Rebecca (Adrienne Reiswerg) accused. Giles Corey (David Mosedale) likewise sees his innocent inquiry about his own wife jeopardizing their lives. The “bewitched” girls include Susanna Walcott (Mariah Rae Pearson) and the Putnams’ servant Mercy Lewis (Lauren Lotzow).

Director Eric Bryant plays Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, the lead magistrate, assisted by Judge Hathorne (Paige Scott), with Ezekial Cheever (Matthew Socey) as clerk of the court. Deputy John Willard (Ian Hauer) finds himself having to arrest his friends and neighbors.

When what is and isn’t Christian – or demonic – are matters of law, they must be defined for the sake of enforcement. Modern concerns in the rise of Christian nationalism are echoed in the Puritan inquiries of this drama. The dynamics of power and privilege, or its lack, propel the plot in a situation that ironically becomes devoid of both magick and the mercy of Christ.

Hartz and Morton give powerful performances as the Proctors, finding the courage for their final ordeal. Embree sharply portrays a manipulative girl driven by youthful fantasy, tinged by a genuine fear for her life. Powers gives us the well-meaning local minister, frustrated by what he saw as a lack of respect, now compounded by events going further out of his control.

Bush and Carrier each show the horrors of being powerless with choices that condemn you no matter what you do. Reiswerg appropriately presents a person resolute in her convictions. Unfortunately, so do Bryant and Scott as uncompromising judges. Weimer gives the most complex performance, as a man who finds evil not in an entity but in unbudging egos, leading him to forego his own.

“The Crucible” tests its characters, as well as our own attitudes, a necessary exam for our own time.

Performances resume Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 29-30), then Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 1-2) at Sheldon Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis (southwest corner of Butler University campus). Get info and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.

IndyFringe: Ain’t But a Few of Us Left

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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

After we enter the theater, we are all welcomed aboard the train, the conductor can tell we all have our baggage with us, and it looks like someone’s is about to get unpacked very soon.

Thus, it brings us to the story of Faith. We see her eulogizing her mother, who quoted fortune cookies like they were scripture or poetry, and was a beloved teacher to so many in the neighborhood yet felt like a total stranger to her own daughter.

We pause the story for a quick stop as some passengers disembark, they are warned, “Truth is waiting for you on that platform out there. You can’t leave it behind”

We rejoin Faith at her college professor’s office as she is denied an extension to submit her final project. She now has 5 days to submit or lose her scholarship and all hope of graduating. With the project being, “Where do you come from?” and her deceased mother being her only family, she is bereft of ideas.

The conductor, however, knows that Faith has it in her to succeed in the assignment and directs her to her stop.

We must all disembark now, our time here’s at an end and the train’s got a myriad of souls left to heal.

I really enjoyed the creativity of the show. It made me reminiscent of “HadesTown” in its setting. While we never fully resolved her story, I felt like we, and hopefully Faith herself, were shown that she already has all the information she needs to fulfil her project, she just has to relax and remember.

This show was also a Flanner House Stage Academy production.

CCP: A bitterly arousing ‘American’ story

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By John Lyle Belden

One of the cruelest linguistic tricks of the last 10 years is how the meaning of “woke” has been thoroughly obscured from its use by African Americans notably at least since the start of Black Lives Matter in 2013 and increased to a crescendo with the racial events of 2020.

This loose definition (coming from Black communities rather that formal institutions) is mainly the awareness – gained from living in an environment, or by exposure to that environment – of the hard truths of social, judicial, and political conflict around ethnicity and especially race, particularly the Black experience taking into account over four centuries of American culture. Being or becoming “woke” should not be trivial, as it addresses issues and events that continue to alter and destroy people’s lives. (Any expansion of meaning – to Latinx or LGBTQ, for instance – should be to broaden the tent, not tear it down.)

It is in this brutally honest reckoning that one should consider the characters portrayed in “American Son,” the 2018 drama by Miami attorney and acclaimed playwright Christopher Demos-Brown, presented by Carmel Community Players through Aug. 17, directed by Bradley Allan Lowe.

Though the word is never used in the play, how “woke” are each of the adults we see?

The mother, Kendra (Zarah Shejule), a Black college professor, would certainly think she is. She senses the worst when contacted at 3 a.m. by Miami-Dade Police, only told “there has been an incident” with her 18-year-old son Jamal’s car. Waiting for nearly an hour in the MDPD waiting room where the play is set – while told nearly nothing – doesn’t help.

Young white Officer Larkin (Joshua Matasovsky) comes off as the opposite, though at first trying clumsily to bridge the gap. At first he plays the know-nothing rookie, stalling for time until the AM Public Affairs Officer arrives. When Jamal’s father, Scott (Earl Campbell), a white FBI agent, enters, Larkin sees the badge and divulges far more information – to him, mistakenly believing he is the officer they are waiting on.

In Kendra and Scott’s conversation, ranging from scathing to bittersweet due to the circumstances of their separation, we learn that Jamal was raised with all the best conditions their parents’ social and monetary privileges could arrange, including an exclusive prep school and an upcoming place at West Point military academy. However, in recent weeks he has questioned his own sense of identity, leading to his angrily venturing out alone the evening before in the nearly-new car given to him by his father.

Social media enters the fray in a bystander video Scott receives of that vehicle with three young black men in a police stop.

Frustrated tempers reach their fever pitch during the arrival of PAO Lt. Stokes (Brian G. Ball). Bringing calm at this point is nearly impossible – Stokes being Black leads to a certain slur that you know will eventually be said – but information is divulged, piece by piece, none of it getting any better.

The factors of this incident get ever more complex – how a Black child is raised; a provocative bumper sticker; privilege and its lack; someone (not Jamal) with an outstanding warrant; marijuana (still illegal in this time and place); involvement of the Gang Intelligence Unit (just referred to casually as “GIU” by the officers); when Black wears “Blue;” the disturbing sounds on the video.

Solid, deeply felt performances by all four cast members never let us off the hook. Lowe provides not only directorial guidance but also designs both sound and an uncomfortably accurate set. This being a single 90-minute act aids the necessary tension.

Also, in this drama the road to hell is paved not with intentions but assumptions made by everyone involved, both within this room and in “the incident” that brought us here. These portrayals will (and should) inspire a lot of conversations after the show and for some time onward. The story is fiction, however the background of the playwright, as well as what we’ve all seen in the news, indicate it is based on the true experiences of many who have had long sleepless nights.

As we awaken each day to a nation where, in practice, skin tone becomes “probable cause” for law enforcement, “American Son” retains its importance as a mirror to our attitudes and public policies. Performances are Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 14-17, at The Switch Theatre, Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy, 10029 E. 126th St., Fishers. Get info and tickets at carmelplayers.org.

Summit shows the ‘Different’ could be any of us

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By John Lyle Belden and Wendy Carson

Summit Performance Indianapolis does more than produce great plays. As a community outreach, it presents “This is Different,” an original one-act play, followed by open panel discussion, on living with and looking past the stigma of substance use disorder (SUD).

Quoting Summit: “It is the ninth Community Conversation One-Act produced by Summit and developed in collaboration with Dr. Sally Wasmuth… at the IU Indianapolis School of Health and Human Services… created from local interviews, conducted by Dr. Wasmuth.”

One performance remains, 7 p.m. tonight (June 28) on the main stage of the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. As the production is made possible in part by the City of Indianapolis and the Opioid Settlement Funds through the Indy Arts Council, all tickets are free, but reservations are needed at phoenixtheatre.org.

Told mainly through compelling monologues, the first-person stories collected by Wasmuth were crafted by playwrights Lauren Briggeman, the director and a Summit founder with long experience in drama; and Kelsey Johnson Lyons, who approached the script from her experience as a poet. Briggemen noted that choreographer Mariel Greenlee, formerly a company member with Dance Kaleidoscope, took the initiative in recommending movement used to underscore the performances. Simple yet effective lighting and sound are by Laura Glover and Olivia Lawson; Nico Meisner is stage manager.

The spirit of collaboration is reflected by the cast, each a major local talent: Tracy Herring, Miki Mathioudadkis, Morgan Morton, and Tracy Nakagozi. The source, script, and earnest delivery combine to thoroughly humanize the addicts in recovery that they represent. While additiction is expensive and devastating, they warn, most of all it is “sneaky.” It’s a party – until it’s not. Without excuses or complaint, the women who speak through these four relate their circumstances, their losses, what they salvage, and the human desire to belong, whether among others or just alone in your own yellow house.

You likely know or may even have been someone like these anonymous real souls. Especially if you don’t, it is imperative to understand them. The discussion after the one-hour performance gives plenty of room for exploring what this means to you, and all of us.

The title, “This is Different,” turns out to have a double meaning. It is what that voice within says when it dawns that instead of using a substance, the roles are reversed; then it’s the realization when after all your attempts to get “clean,” you finally see real recovery.

Big thanks to Dove Recovery House for its participation in this production, and to the continued community work of Summit Performance Indianapolis.

A hard look at America as its victims depart

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By John Lyle Belden

“Ain’t No Mo’” is likely the most funny yet challenging piece of theatre you will see this year.

Written by Jordan E. Cooper, who led performances on Broadway, and now presented by Indianapolis Black Theater Company at the District Theatre, directed by Jamaal McCray, this satire feels like what would happen if the TV show “In Living Color” came back today with total freedom to say what its African American writers really think.

The central player is Peaches (Daren J. Fleming) a drag queen airline agent for the last flight out in a project to relocate all Blacks in the United States back to Africa – the diaspora in reverse, departing from gate 1619.

However, first we get a rousing “funeral” scene which leans into the now-tattered myth that somehow all racism in America stopped with the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This introduces the company, who take on various roles and are referred to in the program as Passengers: Chandra, Clarissa Todd, Cara Wilson, Avery Elise, and Reno Moore, who in this scene plays the exuberant minister declaring that the word/concept of “‘N!&&a’ is our slave!” After what turns out to be an inoculation of spirited repetition of the word in this bit, you’ll hear it a lot throughout the show.     

This is an intense tour-de-force for all involved, with each actor taking their moments to shine.

Chandra keeps the pathos in a darkly comic scene at a not-really-hidden abortion clinic as with the only options for a Black child being prison or early violent death, terminating pregnancy is a mercy – even if one must wait in a line of millions to get it. Still, if only her murdered husband (Moore) saw it that way…

Todd delivers as one of the women (“B!tch, we all hoes!”) in a recording of “Real Baby Mamas of the Southside.” While they all delight in their gold-digger lifestyle, she takes up more of the attention, especially when she is called out for “living my truth” in a scene that simultaneously skewers reality TV, Black stereotype, cultural appropriation, and playing the victim.

In the most hilarious scene (and most reminiscent of an “ILC” skit), Wilson is an unstoppable delight as the essence of “Black” returning literally from her chains to an absurdly bougie family who insist they replaced their skin tone with “green.”

Elise gives a vicious tug to our heartstrings as a hardened prisoner about to be released so she can take that flight to Africa. Something she had with her when incarcerated is missing.

Between scenes, and at final boarding, we get moments with Peaches with her no-nonsense attitude and compassion that does get tested at times.

The production is supplemented with complementing and contrasting visuals provided by CèAira Waymon, as well as audio breaks of recorded lectures noting how Black culture has been turned in against itself to the delight of White supremacists. 

If something about this show does not bother you, you aren’t paying attention. And yet, you really should see this, at least to help understand if not ease the viral contagion of racial politics that permeates the current atmosphere. (As I write this, there is another news bulletin about attacks on DEI programs.)

“Ain’t No Mo’” has performances through July 6 at the District Theatre, 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis. Get tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.

Legends reimagined make one ‘hell’ of a show

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By John Lyle Belden

Having read it, and heard the recordings, I knew as soon as I saw it that “Hadestown” by Anïas Mitchell would become one of my favorite musicals, and Summer Stock Stage has launched a truly outstanding production.

Do not presume, being the “Teen Edition,” that this is a lesser version. The entire Tony- and Grammy-winning play is intact, with only subtle differences (such as sung keys) for younger performers. Director (and SSS founder) Emily Ristine Holloway noted that students from more than 50 Indiana high schools auditioned. Thus, we get a crème de la crème of young talent.

The source material is an “old song” that dates at least to Ancient Greece, as Mitchell painstakingly blended the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the relationship between Hades (god of the Underworld) and Persephone (goddess of Spring) and some very current issues. (Note: The songs were mostly written before “the wall” became a politically-loaded topic; though with its timeliness, it serves as the musical’s centerpiece.)

As hard times come in every era, the messenger god Hermes (Michael Washington) is host of a grungy Depression-era jazz club that looks like an abandoned factory, relating to all a time “of gods and men” with a literal Greek Chorus, the Fates (Noelle Duncan, Meadow Harbert, and Lucy Lindner) to help tell the tale.

“The road to Hell is a railroad track,” Hermes intones, and arriving on its train is Persephone (Isabella Simonsen) to set things blooming again after spending half the year – actually more this time – with husband Hades (Eli Spurgeon). Meanwhile, Orpheus (Preston Angus), mortal but the son of a Muse, making him supernaturally gifted at music, is working on a song he believes will set the cycle of seasons right again. He looks up from his work to see the beautiful mortal Eurydice (Belle K. Iseminger), young but world-weary, seeking comfort. He works his charms on her; they fall in love and are happy – until Hades arrives to take Persephone away for an even longer winter. Dark times strain the young couple until they each end up in Hadestown, “way down under the ground,” for a literally epic showdown between man and god.

It’s tough to describe the sheer power and feeling of the songs and the manner in which they propel this familiar-yet-new plot. I can only hope you can experience it yourselves.

Simonsen is divine as Persephone, while adding the grit of a goddess that has grown tired and unsettled by what has happened, her connection to nature offended by what ironically Hades says he did for her. For his part Spurgeon digs into Hades’ bartitone range to deliver his own divine authority – but there is something more, something uncertain, which he employs to make the character more dangerous.

Iseminger has the lauded natural beauty of Eurydice, backing it up with a firm grasp on her troubled character – even when that person feels unsure – and as good a voice a true mortal can conjure. No key change was necessary for Angus, our Orpheus, as he sweetly hits the lilting notes necessary for his “Epic,” presenting a believable mastery of this and all his songs.

The Fates are wonderfully harmonious and integral, more like a part of the story than commenting bystanders. Washington as Hermes is the quintessential Master of Ceremonies, making his presence firmly felt while never overshadowing other characters as events play out.

Scenes are completed by a large ensemble. Vocally, they are more than background, including amplifying Orpheus’ power in “Come Home With Me,” making plain their Underworld pain to “keep your head low,” and engaging a sort of call-and-response in “If It’s True.” They also show off the fine choreography of Phillip Crawshaw. These players include: Evan Mayer, Maria Beck, Jacob Brewer, Jackson Bullock, Lily Carlstedt, Ivan Figueroa, Max Frank, Sam Funk, Justice Harris, Liv Keslin, Ehren Knerr, Kynden Luster, Morgan Naas, Robert Newton, Sylvi Phillips, Quinn Potter, Jackie Quadrini, Mia Rettig, Haven Sanders, Asha Smitherman, Anna St. Andrè, Alyssa Vasquez, Thomas Whitten, Maggie Webber, and Ethan Wood.

Mythology for a new century, expertly presented – performances of “Hadestown: Teen Edition” are limited, today through Sunday (June 26-29) at Schott Center for the Arts, 610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis (next to Clowes Memorial Hall on the Butler University campus). Additional tickets have been made available but are selling fast. Visit summerstockstage.com for details.

‘Time to Dance’ with Summer Stock Stage ‘Prom’

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By John Lyle Belden

Indianapolis young artist program Summer Stock Stage opens its 2025 season with “The Prom,” a 2018 Broadway musical loosely based on actual events and still-persistent attitudes. This is an Eclipse production (no relation to the Bloomington company) in which young actors gain professional experience alongside experienced and Equity performers.

New York theatre narcissistic has-beens Barry Glickman (Adam B. Shapiro) and Dee Dee Allen (Lanene Charters) discover their latest musical is such a flop, it will immediately close. Commiserating with friend Angie Dickinson (Alexandria Van Paris), a 20-year veteran who can’t escape the chorus, and unemployed former sitcom star Trent Oliver (Logan Mortier) – who can’t stop talking about attending Juilliard – they decide they need to take on an activist cause to enhance their public profiles. Finding an online story about a prom cancelled because a lesbian student wants to take a girl as her date, inspiration strikes.

Meanwhile, at fictional James Madison High School in Edgewater, Indiana, Emma (Mai Caslowitz) finds herself bullied even more than usual as the other students blame her for the prom’s cancellation. Fortunately, Principal Hawkins (Ryan Artzberger) is an ally and working on both a legal remedy and persuading the PTA, led by homophobic president Mrs. Greene (Megan Raymont). That meeting appears to be about to bring about the dance’s reinstatement, when suddenly, our Broadway gang shows up to “help.”

With incurable hams in the land of the tenderloin, we get a lot of laughs and maybe a bit of schadenfreude at watching the New Yorkers fail spectacularly. On the other hand, it’s cruel to Emma, who has enough stress from the fact that her secret girlfriend Alyssa (Jocylon Evans) is Mrs. Greene’s daughter.

Still, there is a lot of heart, hope and energy in this fun musical by Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar, based on a concept by Jack Viertel. This production is directed by SSS Artistic Director Emily Ristine Holloway, expertly managing the comical interventions and put-downs of Hoosier culture while maintaining the humanity of all the characters.

Considering the real-life 2010 incident that inspired the musical happened in Mississippi (complete with prom fake-out and celebrity aid), the show was apparently set in Indiana as a thumb in the eye of then-Vice President Mike Pence. It is good to see local companies take charge of the way Hoosiers are portrayed, even with an honest look at anti-LGBTQ attitudes. Frankly, though I understand the rules regarding scripts, I think it would be best if there were a local (fictional) setting for any conservative state where the musical is staged, lest folks think this is just poking fun at the ignorant people “over there.”

Any concerns about the story are rendered moot by the excellent performances. Charters and Shapiro are delights as well-meaning divas working to get over themselves. Van Paris, “antelope legs” and all, brings the “zazz” throughout. Mortier nimbly plays a goober who seems self-absorbed but wants to just feel appreciated, which comes about in – for him – a surprising way. Local treasure Ben Asaykwee brings his understated charm to the role of Glickman and Allen’s assistant Sheldon. Artzberger is solid as always, and a natural aid in helping the younger stars shine.

As for the youthful roles, Caslowitz gives an award-worthy, relatable, endearing performance, winning our hearts in the songs “Dance With You” and “Unruly Heart.” Evans does a lot with her principal supporting role, especially Alyssa’s signature song.

Excellent work as well by ensemble players Isabella Agresta, Lauren Blackwood, Keilyn Bryant, Izzy Casciani, Noah Greer, Tess Holloway, Seth Jacobsen, Day Johnson, Jilayne Kistner, Reagan Cole Minnette, Maddux Morrison, Martini Olaletan, Jacob Richardon, and Sofia Warren Fitzgerald.

The dancing is also fantastic, choreographed by Sean Aaron Carmon with choreography supervisor Phillip Crawshaw.

One week remains of this spectacle – a sort of “Footloose” for our times – as Summer Stock Stage takes on its new residence at Schrott Center for the Arts at Butler University. Performances are Wednesday through Sunday, with two shows on Saturday, June 4-8. Get tickets at summerstockstage.com or butlerartscenter.org.

Footlite gets ‘Kinky’ in the best way

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By John Lyle Belden

With among its many lessons that you should be willing to pull together to try something wild with great potential, the all-volunteer cast and crew of Footlite Musicals present the fun and funny hit, “Kinky Boots.”

With book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein and songs by equally iconic Cyndi Lauper (making her the first woman to win a Tony for solo songwriting), the 2013 Broadway musical is adapted from the 2005 British film of the same name, in turn inspired by a true story from the 1990s. Set in that 20-ish year ago era in Northampton, England, a man who has inherited a failing shoe factory seeks to save it by filling an unmet need – sturdy but sexy boots for drag queens.

Charlie Price (Alexander Bast) had planned to move to London and take a lucrative marketing job alongside his fiancé Nicola (Nicole Sherlock) but is called back home when his father (Ted Jacobs) passes away. The shoes are well-made, but in a highly competitive market, nobody seems to want them. While seeking to strike a deal with a family friend (Derek Savick-Hesser) Charlie encounters Lola (Kevin Bell), the drag queen star of her own show. He notices her stilettos won’t hold up a man’s body and, after Price & Sons employee Lauren (Mara Fowler) – who secretly has a crush on him – suggests he find “an underserved niche market” to stay in business, gets the idea to make what will be known as Kinky Boots.

Reactions are mixed at the factory, though most buy in as the alternative is unemployment. Factory manager George (Ryan Bridges) is eager and creates a steel-reinforced heel. Foreman Don (Drew Kempin) considers himself a “man’s man” and openly mocks Lola, who is brought on board as designer. In three weeks, there will be a major fashion show in Milan that will make or break the enterprise, as well as the people involved.

We also meet, in the opening number, Charlie and Simon (who will become Lola) as boys, played by Sam Houghland and Ryan Thomas, respectively, as well as Simon’s disapproving father (Jerry Davis).  The cast includes Shari Jacobs, Awbrey Brosseit, Jessica Hackenberg, Logan Laflin, Louis Soria, Ruby Waliser, Jennifer Zotz, and Tom Zotz, who also cameos as Richard, Nicola’s boss.

Lola is backed by her cloud of fabulous Angels, performed by drag artists Conner Becker-Chamberlin, a/k/a Darcy Sparks; Leon Benbow-Blomberg / Miss Dominixxx; Caleb Francis / Penny Loafers; Cameron Grant / Anita Richard; Shawn Hunt / Artemis Da Goddess; Dalen Jordan / Donleigh Delights; Paige Penry / Bella DeBall; and Kenan Tinnin / Body Miss Morphia.

Joyfully directed by Jerry Beasley, we get a (much-needed these days) uplifting story of grit and acceptance. The characters are fairly complex – not just the obvious multitudes in Lola, brought out in glorious voice and expression by Bell. Bast gives us a Charlie who is well-meaning, sometimes off-base, yet easy to root for. Kempin’s Don is mostly bluster, a bloke who literally gets sense knocked into him. Sherlock plays Nicola as one who feels certain of her direction, coming to learn that Charlie doesn’t see success her way. Fowler makes her regular young woman Lauren, who goes from slinging shoes on a factory floor to being “executized” to help make the new line,   appropriately adorable.

Among the volunteers putting this spectacle together are set designers Ted Jacobs and Mary Lich, choreographer Thomas Mason, vocal director Ben Rose, and stage manager Melissa Yurechko. Costumer for the queens is Angel Olivera, assisted by Katie Van Den Heuvel and Michael Morrow. Jeremy Kaylor leads the orchestra.

EDITED TO ADD: Beasley messaged me this – “I would like to add that Claire Olvey Slaven also costumed The Angels as well as assistant directed, and Ben Jones created their hair and makeup look! The Price & Son workers costumes were designed by Edith Burton-Bandy.”

As a counter to current controversies, we get a reminder that for its community Drag is not just a lifestyle, but an essential part of life. Let the spirit of “Kinky Boots” raise you up, and remember: “You can change the world, when you change your mind.”

Performances are Thursdays through Sundays through May 18 at Footlite Musicals, 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Get tickets (which have been selling fast) at footlite.org.

IBTC presents: Kurkendaal gets ‘Real’

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By Wendy Carson

This is one of four scheduled shows in the Black Solos Fest presented by Indianapolis Black Theatre Company, a program of The District Theatre. Performance information and tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.

This weekend, Les Kurkendaal brings an expanded version of his much-lauded work, “The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Drag Queen.” Since I was not able to see the previous stagings, I was excited to get a chance to see this more fleshed-out production and it did not disappoint.

Ever the engaging storyteller, Kurkendaal brings us an endearing tale to delight and educate us on our past and potential future. Told through reminiscences of a fever-dream he experienced during a biopsy on his leg (benign, he reassures us), he gives us the history of William Dorsey Swann, the first documented black drag queen and political activist. He also forces himself to revisit traumatic instances of prejudice he experienced in his life. As his coping method has been to shut himself up in a protective “Glinda Bubble,” Swann’s spirit makes him realize that he can no longer continue to do this.

Kurkendaal has been reworking and refining this show for the past few years, touring it internationally, and I feel that he has truly found his voice in it. The message – that nothing in the world is going to change until we all wake up and join together to support one another, and do whatever we can to fight those who try to oppress and oppose our brethren – is not new, but it’s vital to remember in our current political climate.

Our review of his performance of “Real Black Swann” during the 2022 IndyFringe festival is here. The narrative is largely unchanged, and it is an excellent look at the life of a man born into slavery, yet entering the turn of the 20th century on his own terms – and in a dress. It also reminds us that the gay underground in American cities goes a lot further back than most folks suspect.

As we post this, there is still a performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, on the main stage of The District Theatre, 627 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis.

Statement of Values

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By John Lyle Belden and Wendy Carson

Being entertainment writers, it should matter very little where we, John and Wendy, stand on any issue beyond the edges of the stage. Still, the dramatic arts are culture, easy ammunition for a “culture war.” So, we feel it appropriate to state openly what subtle, unavoidable bias could influence our work. In addition, we’ll note our feelings on issues affecting people we work with and around.

Several months ago, one of our reviews inspired someone to call us “woke” – an odd term for an insult or reprimand, its meaning warped to be practically useless for civil discussion. We believe that the arts, including drama, comedy, musicals, and dance, are meant to awaken the senses and bring awareness – of beauty, absurdity, injustice, whatever.

Creators, directors, and performers bring their points of view. From ancient Greeks, to Shakespeare, to today’s new works, they all “say” something. Otherwise, what’s the point? It would be absurd for us to ignore these themes in our writing. Our approach avoids critiques that only tear artists’ work down; we strive to inform readers what the production is (without explicit spoilers) while praising its notable aspects.

With recent and current events, our concerns extend beyond the stage. Regardless of a show’s content, many performers, crew and staff live with issues of race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, or personal liberty – parts of their lives that people in legislative or court chambers discuss with disturbing regularity. We are not shy in our support of the “theatre family,” especially as many find there a closer bond than their own kin.

In matters of race and ethnicity, we strive to grow beyond our “whiteness,” to listen and take on the know-better/be-better mindset. A diversity of voices makes our theatre scene that much richer, and we encourage them as much as we can.

Given the wide participation of LGBTQ+ in the creative arts, we can’t fathom being homophobic in this space. The stage has long given shelter to those who don’t feel comfortable away from it.

Trans expression is as old as theatre itself. However, we understand that for many it is not a costume, it is their lives. We are concerned by slurs and slander passing as news and political stance. Walk in our shoes and meet people as wonderful and complex as any others, just as human and needing to live their own lives.

We know it is too easy to say, “I’m an ally,” but for the sake of our friends, relatives, and society in general, we strive to live with an attitude of love and support.