drama

Poe’s ‘muse’ inspires new play

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By John Lyle Belden

For this year’s Halloween festivities in Irvington, local playwright Breanna Helms took on an intriguing question: What if the “Lenore” in Edgar Allan Poe’s poems was an actual woman? The result is the short play, “The Silent Muse,” presented by 4th Wall Players in late October, directed by Josh Gibson.

Poe published the poem “Lenore” in 1843, and more famously, “The Raven,” in which the dead Lenore is longed for, in 1845. They were carefully crafted literary works allegedly not inspired by any singular person, but that death came easily for many in the 19th century, including many of Edgar’s relatives, and soon his sickly young wife, Virginia.

In this alternate history, Poe as a young struggling writer (played by Jy’Ierre Jones) is acquainted with sisters Lenore (Emma Gedig) and Annabelle (Alice Graves the first weekend, Helms during the second), as well as their Mother (Tracy Herring).

Asked his opinion by Annabelle, Edgar romantically likens her to a calm pond that has become a wild sea (a hint towards how she would inspire her own poem). To his surprise, he finds Lenore lurking in a hollow tree that she likes to climb. Calling her a wood nymph, he proceeds to flirt with her in earnest – she being the unmarried sister.  

Soon, however, Mother brings around Guy de Vere (Kyvaille Edge), a proper wealthy suitor for Lenore’s hand. Seeing her place in society as inevitable, she agrees to his proposal.

True to an Edgar Allan Poe story, the marriage is not happy and our ending is tragic. Still, Helms makes this story beautiful and engaging enough for us to believe these events could inspire a masterpiece. There are even a few hints at the poem dropped through the narrative. The script is a neatly-written half-hour, which I feel could be revised to Fringe length (45-50 minutes) with no obvious padding. (This is why I’m keeping to my usual policy of avoiding spoilers).

Performances brought the story to life nicely. Jones shows great energy and potential with his acting journey getting under way; his restless Edgar longs for love and a better life and chafes at being seen as not worthy of the social circle he lives in. Gedig gives us a gem with facets including the “nymph” with her aura of unruly magic; the dutiful daughter and wife; and a soul somehow aware of the shadow of her limited future.

Hopefully, we will see “The Silent Muse” return, and more creative work by Helms in the future.

For now, 4th Wall dives back into the gloom with Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights,” adapted and directed by Alan Keith, opening this weekend and running Nov. 7-16 at Backlot Makerspace and Venue (formerly Stage Door), 5235 Bonna Ave. Indianapolis (in historic Irvington).

Get info and tickets at 4thwallplayers.org.

Macabre musical brings ‘Ripper’ to the stage

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By John Lyle Belden

“Funny, it takes a murder for anyone to notice we passed this way.”

This lament is sung by the women mostly known from their tragic fates in “Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Musical,” by Steven Bergman and Christopher DiGrazia, presented by Carmel Apprentice Theatre, directed by Jake Williams.

This version of the well-told blend of history and legend stands apart for several reasons. It is mostly sung-through like an operetta, and Jack himself (played by Leo Milletary) frequently takes center stage. Who – among the dozens of suspects proposed by investigators, historians, and countless enthusiasts – is he? The musical gives an interesting theory (new to us), which I’ll leave for you to discover.

The story follows the people whom we do know, including the five most-known Ripper victims: Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols (Kate Knoll), Annie Chapman (Hannah Smith), Elizabeth Stride (Ella Owens), Catherine Eddowes (Cassie Scalzi), and Mary Jane Kelly (Reagan Nagel). Investigating the murders are Inspector Frederick Abberline (Mac Williams), assisted by Dr. Rees Ralph Llewellyn (Duane Leatherman), with Cameron Kaufman as the policeman on duty. A pesky chorus of Gentlemen of the Press (C. Leroy Delph, Tim West, and Kat Moore) are determined to print the facts, even if they have to make them up. Marissa Hassie plays the barmaid at The Ten Bells, a tavern where the doomed women all knew one another.

It is 1888 in foggy, filthy London and Jack is writing “The Story of the Century” in poor women’s blood. After the first falls, a “Merry Maid” presumes she won’t be so foolish – and her body is found next.  Knowing they should be cautious, the next two still can’t help being defiant and fatalistic. Meanwhile, Mary Kelly – the youngest and most mysterious (her life history still confounds Ripperologists) – knows more than she lets on.

The CAT (performing at The Cat, naturally) is a program that welcomes all levels of experience. Milletary, a local musician, makes an impressive theatrical debut. Williams, a familiar face in local community theatre, ably expresses the frustration known to dog Abberline during and long after the Whitechapel murders, with a measure of empathy. The women are equal measure charming and feisty; this especially comes out in their songs, such as “Stride’s Song (Life is Short),” with its take on the “and then there were none” nursery rhyme. In contrast to the fear felt by the ladies, the Gentlemen of the Press are practically giddy with excitement as “The Weekly London Murders” continue to sell papers.

Williams is also music director, with choreography by Maureen Hiner-Akins, and Kellyn Johnson is stage manager.

Performances resume Halloween weekend, Friday through Sunday (Oct. 31-Nov. 2) at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, just south of Carmel’s Main Street Arts & Design District. Get tickets at thecat.biz.

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.

GHDT ‘Casket Girls’ dance again

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By John Lyle Belden

Though shrouded in myth, the story of the “Casket Girls” is true*. In the 1720s, by order of King Louis IV of France at the urging of the Church, young women were sent to new Gulf Coast colonies to be wives to the men there in hopes of keeping them civilized and Christian.

These filles a la cassette (girls with suitcases) were eventually referred to with the word casquette, which conjured the more popular term. They were pale and delicate, it was said, sensitive to the sun and, perhaps, the magical spirit of New Orleans.

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre has revived its production that tells the legend with “modern gothic vampire” flair, featuring original music by Cory Gabel. Choreography and costumes are again by Gregory Glade Hancock, with lighting by Ryan Koharchik.

This modern-dance ballet centers on the character of Catherine (Abigail Lessaris), a Casket Girl who lives with the Sisters of St. Ursula until she finds her beau, Jean (guest dancer Cody Miley). But supernatural forces strike, changing her forever.

The second act brings the undead Catherine back to New Orleans a century later, finding an ally in voodoo priestess Mother Ava May (Olivia Payton) and love with sweet Saraphine (Josie Moody). But evil Lucien (Thomas Mason) wants to rule the city, and if Catherine doesn’t join him, he knows the Casket Girl now has something to lose.

Dancers also include Nathalie Boyle, David Elser, Fiadh Flynn, Sophie Jones, Zoe Maish, Vivien Mickels, Hazel Moore, Audrey Springer, Josie Steinmetz, and Lucy Grontkowski of The Conservatory of Dance at Granger, Ind., with guest vocalist Tessa Gibbons.

Stunning and beautiful throughout, the music and movement embrace a dark atmosphere evoking the works of Anne Rice and the goth-punk aesthetic of the World of Darkness roleplaying games. Gabel, in close collaboration with Hancock, brings a Nine-Inch-Nails-esque percussion to the score, giving a relentless beat to the characters’ stilled and breaking hearts.

A unique danse macabre for this spooky season, “The Casket Girls” have just one performance remaining, 5 p.m. today (Oct. 25) as I post this, at The Tarkington in the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. Watch for this production to likely return in coming years.

With this, GHDT opens its 28th season. Next up is its next improvised collaboration in the “Melange” series on Nov. 15-16 as Mickels dances while vocalist Jessica Hawkins sings and Madhuchhanda Mandal creates a visual work of art. The full company celebrates the Holidays with Winterfest on Dec. 4-7 and 11-14. These performances will be at The Florence performance space at The Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, 329 Gradle Dr., Carmel.

Full information and tickets at gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.

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(*History and legend of the Casket Girls at NewOrleans.com)

Athenaeum, NoExit present mysterious ‘Gathering’

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By John Lyle Belden

The Athenaeum in downtown Indianapolis has long been reputed to house restless spirits.

At “The Gathering,” step inside and find yourself in 1919, right after the first World War, during a pandemic known as the Spanish Flu, and at the dawn of Prohibition. Also on people’s minds and hearts were the practice and promise of Spiritualism, a faith path leading many to seek communication with the dead.

This theatrical experience is presented by NoExit Performance, resuming the local company’s practice of site-specific productions.

Famed medium Madame Josephine (Callie Burk-Hartz) has returned to Indianapolis, her hometown, to give her final public séances at the former Deutche Haus. We in the audience are that public. While waiting for her show to begin, we happen to witness some interesting goings-on.

William (Bill Wilkinson), a former skeptic turned Prognosticator, shows us one of his mentalist tricks. Max (Jaddy Ciucci), a Metaphysician, arrives with a curious electric device she wishes to show Mme. Josephine. This sparks the curiosity of Edith (Kallen Ruston), a local reporter.  

Meanwhile, young widow Lorraine (Georgeanna Smith Wade) seeks a private audience with the medium, which the show’s producer Victor (Lukas Felix Schooler) says is not possible without a substantial additional fee. The distraught woman persists, as she needs to contact the spirit of her recently-lost daughter – providing it doesn’t also arouse the shade of her late husband.

We also encounter Nellie (Beverly Roche), a “scientific” Palmist, as well as a fellow Spectator (Audrey Stonerock) about whom we learn something we weren’t meant to know.

The audience moves through this production as the scenes play out in several rooms. This also takes us up backstage stairs not usually open to the public (those with mobility issues are taken to the similarly decorated elevator).

Some moments involve movement to evoke the hidden turmoil of these characters, with all their secret feelings and motivations. The first was surprising, but they shouldn’t be for those familiar with NoExit, juxtaposed with the more realistic portrayals of dialogue.

We join the séance itself on the historic stage of the Athenaeum. A rare view of its workings aids the feeling of being in a world on the haunted edge of comfortable reality.

Performances are first-rate, skillfully maintaining the atmosphere so that suspense is imperceptible until the foreboding mood is all around us like an ethereal fog. Smith Wade draws on our empathy while hinting at the darkness that follows her. Schooler keeps Victor equal parts protective and manipulative, never allowing us to trust even as we feel compelled to follow. Burk-Hartz perfectly presents tired and troubled Madame Josephine, up to now a polished professional, yet sensing in this night something too real for mere entertainment.

The subplot building with Ciucci and Ruston’s characters is pleasantly intriguing, as well as the presence of Wilkinson and Roche’s practitioners of occult arts who, though wise to the tricks, are still drawn into the growing sense of mystery.

My one criticism, which could be seen as a compliment – being left wanting to see more. It felt like another scene or two could have deepened the narrative, giving more context and purpose for all the characters, aside from one person’s grave secret mostly revealed at the evening’s climax.

Still, there is plenty here to see and feel. And some things are necessarily left in shadow for us to ponder, just as it should be for this chilling experience.

Performances start in the lobby of the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St., at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-25. For information and tickets, visit AthenaeumIndy.org. Get NoExit info on their Facebook page.

IndyFringe: ‘Another Medea’

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By Wendy Carson

This production was part of the 2025 Indy Fringe Festival in August.

If you recognize the name “Medea,” you may know it* from ancient mythology: A spurned woman who kills her children when her husband leaves her to marry another. However, those who read and study her mythos know she is a far more complex and fascinating character. In fact, not all tales have her as the one who kills her children.

Regardless of your familiarity with the story, playwright Aaron Mark has found a unique spin with “Another Medea,” American Lives Theatre’s Fringe production.

Lukas Felix Schooler brings us the story of Marcus Sharp, a brilliant stage actor whom he idolized for years before his arrest and imprisonment.  They correspond for three years, until, though he had long refused to say a word in his defense, Sharp becomes convinced that he can trust this man to bear his tale.

Schooler then embodies Sharp for the rest of the performance, enacting that fateful prison interview.

Sharp’s story centers around Jason, a wealthy oncologist, with whom he enters into a committed relationship. Jason is supportive at first, but when work opportunities away from their West Village penthouse appear, he finds ways to discourage Sharp from accepting them.

A typical narcissist, Jason insists that his love (and money) is all Sharp will need. However, like so many others who put aside their own careers to be devoted to a partner, Sharp becomes hopelessly bored. He develops a close relationship with Jason’s sister, Angelica, which helps him to feel more useful, and gives him an idea for the perfect gift for his darling Jason’s 50th Birthday.

Since Jason adores children but is unable to have any of his own, Sharp will impregnate Angelica, and the children would be as close to actual genetic children that Jason could have. While Jason freaks out at first, he warms up to the idea and the twins, Grace and Lily soon arrive.

Everything is wonderful again, but after a few years, Jason takes Sharp to a play and spies a handsome young star, Paris, and a new “friendship” begins. Also wealthy, Paris better understands Jason. So, of course, he starts to usurp Sharp’s place in the household and family.

Things escalate quickly from there, resulting in Sharp’s current incarceration. Before he ends the visit, he mentions that the tale would make an excellent one-man show.

Not only does it make a great show, but it is also mesmerizing. Schooler is such a remarkable presence. He invites you on a journey and you fully follow him down every twist, turn, and rabbit hole to the conclusion. Schooler’s master class performance was directed by Jacob David Lang, who assures us that we will be safe from the orange-clad felon as we share this experience.

This is such an amazing piece of theater. I was personally moved beyond words at how vividly the prose was woven into a story that I felt I witnessed rather than just watched. If you missed seeing it, you should really petition American Lives Theatre to see about bring back another staging so you too can experience this harrowing saga.

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(*If you were thinking the Tyler Perry comedy character, she is “Madea,” likely named as an allusion to the myth, but with complications of her own.)

Where a life becomes a legacy: IBTC honors MLK with ‘Mountaintop’

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By John Lyle Belden

I have been to the Lorraine Motel.

The site near downtown Memphis, Tenn., where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, is now a monument and museum. Its façade was restored so that it is frozen in time to April 1968. This exterior, accessible to the public even when the museum is closed, has plaques and media to help visitors understand what happened there.

However, to see inside King’s room, you only need travel as far as Mass. Ave. in downtown Indy, for the Indianapolis Black Theater Company production of “The Mountaintop,” written by Katori Hall, directed by company artistic director Tijideen Rowley.

The audio as you take your seats at the main stage of the District Theatre is of King delivering the speech that gives the play its name. He relates the struggle for civil rights as a long historic journey, and famously likens himself to Moses of the Bible who was allowed to view the Promised Land from atop a mountain, knowing he would not go there himself.

Given what would happen the very next day, this rings prophetic, but King knew that the constant death threats, dissatisfaction within his own movement, and even harassment by the FBI would somehow catch up to him. In supporting a strike by Black sanitation workers and speaking out about Vietnam, as well as years of the work for which we honor him now, he was likely one of the most hated men in America. Perhaps, also, he thought he wouldn’t live naturally long enough to see real progress (could he have made it to 2008?).

Daniel A. Martin takes on King like a bespoke suit, shining with intelligence and charisma, but also just a man, troubles on his mind, who could really use a cigarette. He connects with home by the bedside telephone – after checking it for a bug – to hear the voices of his wife and daughter in Atlanta. Soon after, he is visited by a maid, delivering room service.

The beautiful young woman, Camae, is both deferential to the famous “Preacher King” and a bit sassy, which he can’t help liking. Her speech has an almost comical brokenness, peppered with occasional profanity and words that seem out of place. She is so much more than she seems.

Opening night featured a wonderful performance by Dija Renuka as Camae. Due to an unexpected health issue, her role is now played by prepared understudy Clarissa Michelle. (Standing by to understudy King is Bryan Ball.)

Hall, a Memphis native, gave the play rich details for Rowley and the cast to work with, humanizing a man now considered a saint, even by those who would have opposed him in his era. Martin delivers a genuine performance of a man confronting stages of grief for his life and, he fears, his legacy. Through him we see the toll the work has taken and the need for it to continue.

Serious as it all gets, there are moments of welcome humor, including absurd bits that work in context. Just pull out a stage-fake Pall Mall, and relax. Tomorrow, the baton of his race is in your hand.

Performances of “The Mountaintop” are Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 25-28, at the District, 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis. (Ball plays King on Thursday.) Get info and tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.

Play finds a way to have its say

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By John Lyle Belden

Equivocation, the use of language to say something without directly saying it, is a way of “telling the truth in difficult times,” according to the play “Equivocation” by Bill Cain, presented by Southbank Theatre Company, directed by Marcia Eppich-Harris.

In Cain’s drama, he takes actual historical events in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot of Nov. 5, 1605, and adds a fascinating “what-if?” – that King James I (target of the treason), through his advisor Sir Robert Cecil, commissioned William Shakespeare to write – adapting a prepared manuscript – a play on the “True Historie” of the event.

(The “Plot,” now remembered in the UK as Guy Fawkes Day, was to blow up the House of Lords while the King was in attendance for the opening of Parliament. An anonymous letter to one of the Lords warning him to stay away was given to Cecil, who showed it to James. Fawkes was not a principal conspirator but rather the “trigger man,” arrested before he could light the fuse on 36 barrels of powder. The cause behind this assassination attempt, which would have killed hundreds if not thousands, was the ongoing strife between England’s Catholics and the ruling Protestants.)

Shakespeare (Ronn Johnston) turns down the assignment, noting he only writes past events, legends and history, not current events. Cecil (J. Charles Weimer) insists, calling the playwright a master of “the art of cynical manipulation” whose works will outlive him by at least half a century. In this flattery, he could be describing himself, a man physically and ethically bent who helped put the former King of Scotland on the throne, and – especially as a bag of coins hits Shakespeare’s palm – one unwise to refuse.

“Shag,” as the Bard was then known, says he will bring it to his company, the King’s Men, a cooperative enterprise, for a vote. Veteran actor Richard Burbage (Dan Flahive), essentially the company leader, is at first reluctant but they could use the money. Actors Robert Armin (Joshua Matasovsky), Nate Field (Weimer), and young Richard Sharpe (Matthew Ball) readily agree.

In writing the King’s play, Shakespeare encounters a problem: In a story about something not happening, there is nothing interesting to put on the stage. While exploring the questions of what did happen, Shakespeare finds a bigger problem: The truth is not what was written on the pages given to him.

This leads to revealing interviews with alleged conspirators, Tom Wintour (Ball), awaiting execution, and Father Henry Garnet (Flahive), awaiting trial. Garnet was notable for his treatise on equivocation, which Shakespeare begs to better understand.

Also on hand is Shakespeare’s daughter, Judith (Abigail Wittenmyer), whose twin brother Hamnet (their father’s favorite) died in childhood. She lends assistance, though little appreciated, but will have her say.

In the shadow of the gallows, the Bard labors to bring forth a work of honesty that still keeps him off that scaffold. The results will still be remembered, many-times-fifty years later.

Johnston gives us a very human and relatable Shakespeare, exhibiting flashes of his genius along with his frustration at a nearly impossible and dangerous task, as well as his long overdue dealing with a personal struggle. The others flow back and forth smoothly between presenting The King’s Men in rehearsal and the men who serve the King at court. Flahive is masterful in his turns as the gruff master thespian and the clever yet doomed Jesuit priest. Ball also portrays the easily amused yet still intimidating King James, complete with Scottish accent. Wittenmyer makes a potentially overlooked character boldly stand out.

Along the way we sense how tensions then reflect questions now regarding freedom of expression, censorship, and expressing truth to power. These issues are as timeless and relevant, perhaps even more, than the works of the celebrated man at the center of the play.

There remain four more performances of “Equivocation,” Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 18-21, at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis (southwest corner of Butler University campus). Get information and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.

New play presents a fateful correspondence

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By John Lyle Belden

There is much to be said for the magic of the theatre, the blurring of space, distance, and communication between characters and to our silent witness, all on the limited confines right in front of us. Thus, our minds easily suspend disbelief, forego the logic that requires more physical and temporal structure expected in cinema or even a novel, all to give us the essence and substance of the story. Put simply, I believe “Wad,” by Keiko Green, could only work on the stage – and the current world premiere production by American Lives Theatre and The New Harmony Project works brilliantly.

Nyce – pronounced “Neese” – (Mollie Murk) is a Ft. Lauderdale teen fascinated with the macabre who finds a program to mail letters to prison inmates on Florida’s Death Row. She selects Jim (Eric Reiberg) and writes to him noting that she has not read about his case beyond being convicted for “double first-degree murder,” that she would rather find out about it from him, from his perspective.  His execution date is five months away.

The black-box confines of the Basile stage in the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre are evenly divided between Nyce’s bedroom and Jim’s cell (set design by Matt Mott). Under the direction of Emily Moler, we see Nyce and Jim communicate across the hundred-plus mile distance via balled-up letters thrown across the center line like paper-wads in a classroom (hence the title). What in reality takes days become flowing conversations, complete with mutual-fantasy interactions across the center line. They enact a history lesson, a meet-cute, and even a puppet show. In addition, they each find themselves revealed as lies are discovered and evasions become useless as time grows ever shorter.

Murk nicely embodies the girl at the cusp of adulthood, naively thinking hard truths will come easy. While she is at a turning point at the start of life’s potential, Reiberg gives us a man facing down his end. He is at first indifferent, but finding a non-judgemental friend gives him a cruel dose of hope. Aided by what we learn about his fate through their correspondence, the conclusion is felt more than seen.

While obviously a drama, there is a fair amount of dark comedy, especially in their early interactions – a blend of adolescent sarcasm and genuine gallows humor. Watch closely for deeper elements, such as both characters being Libras – a hint at the scales of Justice, and the fragile sense of balance throughout the narrative.

In all, “Wad” is a fascinating, thought-provoking, and affecting look at two distinct characters, revealing the humanity they share with each other – and us. Performances run through Sept. 28 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

‘Mockingbird’ has its say in Carmel

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By John Lyle Belden

Nineteen-thirty-five was 90 years ago, approaching a century, and aspects of our culture then still linger with us today. That’s why “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the novel by Harper Lee (inspired by her childhood), is still important.

Its stage play, dramatized by Christopher Sergel, is on the stage of The Cat in Carmel, produced by Carmel Community Players, directed by Andrea Odle. It’s notable that we don’t have to help promote this as opening night was sold out and ticket sales are brisk for the rest of the run, through Sunday, Sept. 21, including both a matinee and evening performance on the 20th. We know why this story is important; read on for a refresher and to meet those bringing it to life.

Jean Louise Finch (Ashley Sherman) is our narrator and guide to the events of that fateful year in Maycomb, Alabama, memorable for her as a little girl known as “Scout” (Rylee Odle), her slightly older brother Jeremy “Jem” Finch (Drake Smith) and their friend Dill (Jackson Odle-Stollings).  

Scout and Jem’s father is Atticus Finch (Kent Phillips), a middle-aged lawyer who doesn’t appear to do much more than occupy an office all day – embarrassingly sedate to his active children. But they come to learn the man is so much more, with growing respect and pride, when Judge Taylor (David Dessauer) assigns Atticus the defense of Tom Robinson (Jurrell Spencer), a Black man accused of attacking and raping Mayella (Samantha Lewis), a white teen and daughter of unsavory character Bob Ewell (Mark Jackson), who made the accusation.

Sheriff Heck Tate (Mike Sosnowski) is a good friend of Atticus and maintains a neutral if not covertly empathetic attitude towards the accused. We see the same from kindly neighbor Miss Maude Atkinson (Mary Garner). Others are quick to condemn – the N-word is said quite a bit, though sadly appropriate to the setting. This includes town busybody Miss Stephanie Crawford (Jeanne Lewis); poor farmer Mr. Cunningham (Dwayne Lewis) – the irony of him being a past client of Atticus will come into play; and especially the bitter old neighbor Mrs. Dubose (Jean Adams), which will lead to an important life lesson for Jem.

Jada Moon is stern but compassionate Calpurnia, the Finch cook and maternal figure to the children. Austin Uebelhor is Nathan Radley of the house next door, with the big tree with the knot-hole; he cares for his mysterious brother, “Boo,” who never comes out. Sidney Blake is the Rev. Sykes of the local Black church, minister to Tom Robinson and his wife, Helen (Trinity Pruitt). Jim Jamriska plays Mr. Gilmer, the county Prosecutor, smugly confident in his case. Thomas Amick’s roles include Tom’s boss and the Clerk of the court.

Scout, through whose eyes and memories we see this, is one who matures in her sense of fairness from scrappy to a more gentle understanding, which we see in the performances of Sherman and Rylee Odle. At moments they are even in unison, reflecting the child/woman dichotomy of the character in the book. Rylee’s Scout shows flashes of intuition and a (at one point literally) disarming sense of kindness, while Sherman shows how she hasn’t fundamentally changed not only in her continuing quest to understand 1935, but also her still wearing overalls instead of a dress in 1960 (excellent costuming throughout by Karen Cones).

Children being played by young adults doesn’t prove distracting as all three commit to naively childish personae, including Smith’s impulsive Jem and Odle-Stolling’s eccentric imaginative Dill. (The latter character is based on Lee’s childhood friend, Truman Capote.) Andrea Odle said that casting them, including her daughter Rylee, made it easier to have the characters repeat racially offensive terms, as well as better understand the play’s context.

Phillips brings a nuanced and complex approach to Atticus, his every word and action well considered, his courtroom manner dense with gravitas. Sosnowski brings a complimentary sense of companionship as Tate, while ever aware of his role in events as a guardian of safety and order. Spencer makes the most of his time at trial to make Tom’s case to the jury and to us.

Even the more broadly-drawn characters are solid. Moon incorporates mothering into Calpurnia’s role, avoiding caricature so that even in Jean Louise’s remarks on her disciplining the children, she is remembered fondly. Blake as the Reverend is an appropriate pillar of strength. Jamriska’s Gilmer is slick, grinning as he works a system that practically guaranteed him a win. Jackson’s violently dangerous Bob Ewell is scarily effective, while Samantha Lewis achingly plays a girl trapped by multiple factors including abuse, social stigma, isolation, and the limits of an uneducated mind. Adams, fierce and unrelenting, gives us little to like so we only have Atticus to trust in reasons for his compassion. Uebelhor shows mastery over his brief appearances, especially at the play’s climax.

Odle-Stollings is assistant director, and Amy Buel is stage manager. Simple yet effective sets were designed and built by the Odle family.

Performances are at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way in the heart of downtown Carmel. In the time you’ve read this review, more tickets were sold. See if any are left at carmelplayers.org.