ghosts

House haunters resist change in BCP comedy

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By John Lyle Belden

“Over My Dead Body,” a one-hour one-act by Jean Blasiar on stage at Buck Creek Players, bears a small resemblance to a present TV series about ghosts taking issue with how the living folk take care of “their” house. Like that show, this play is more charming than chilling, with this story giving emphasis on family and preserving what’s important.

Dearly departed Miranda and Ben Gould (Melissa DeVito and Brad Burns) like to hang out in the rafters of the family home, which daughter-in-law Stella (Tiffany D. Wilson) wants to get rid of. Ben and Miranda’s son Frank (Dennis Karr) doesn’t mind the presence of long-gone relatives and the home’s spooky reputation; he is uncertain about the move – or if the spirits will even allow it. Frank and Stella’s daughter Jessica (Jeanna Little) likes the idea of moving from Pennsylvania to Florida, while son Dylan (Grant Bowen) definitely does not – wielding ghost-hunter gear, he devotedly contacts his grandparents as best he can.  

To make the house salable, Stella calls on medium Horatia (Beth Popplewell) to attempt an exorcism. Miranda counters with intervention by St. Francis of Assisi (Ron Pittman) himself. Mary Miller and Cheryl Croghan hang around as mischievous spirits. Nickie Cornett directs.

The actors playing ghosts are having a ghoulishly good time, especially DeVito in her well-intentioned grandmotherly urge to make things the way she feels they should be. Burns as her husband is taking it easy in the afterlife – sort of a “grateful dead” was my first thought. Karr has Frank share his late father’s let-it-ride attitude, while Wilson and Little have Stella and Jessica working their conflict between the family oddness and the desire to live a more “normal” life. Meanwhile, Bowen plays Dylan as a “buster” on the side of the ghosts. Creepy cuties Miller and Croghan become the literal deux ex machina with a well-timed possession. Popplewell makes Horatia as entertaining as she is incompetent.

And St. Francis would have me remind all that the Gould family “cat” is still missing.

This show is a nice way to start the “spooky season,” especially for families with children, as any scares are “Scooby-Doo” level and at the end the cast come out with their buckets of treats (no tricks!).

Remaining performances are Friday through Sunday, Oct. 7-9, at the Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern Ave. (Acton Road Exit off I-74. Get info and tickets at buckcreekplayers.com.

Restless dead haunt Fonseca Theatre drama

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By Wendy Carson

Inspired by the recent trend of ghost investigations, a new drama, “The Brothers Paranormal,” appears on the new stage of Fonseca Theatre Company.

Delia is haunted. She is convinced that her new apartment is haunted by a Thai ghost. For the past six months she has heard whooshes, floorboard creaks, footsteps, and has now seen apparitions of a creepy young girl. While her loving husband, Felix, has not shared in any of this phenomena, he supports her decision to blow all of their savings to hire the titular service to find proof of this and hopefully restore their lives, still coming together after losing their New Orleans home to Katrina and relocating to the Midwest.

Max is haunted. The son of Thai immigrants, he and his older brother, Visarut, are just barely scraping by. Delia’s request is the first job they have attained. Max has had to leave college, his West Coast home, friends and girlfriend behind to help Visarut care for their schizophrenic mother, Tasanee. Max also worries about Visarut’s drinking problem, made worse by what their mother did.

Felix is haunted. He works as a paramedic and thought his job would be constantly saving lives. However, he feels the truth is that more often than not, he is just trying to keep them alive for a little bit longer. The ones that die under his care weigh heavy on his soul.

Can the brothers find proof of Delia’s ghost, or is her own family history of schizophrenia to blame for these manifestations? What is real? What is an illusion? Why do some cultures celebrate death and others fear it? These are among the questions posed by Prince Gomolvilas’s engrossing script.

Sean Qui is excellent as Max, running the gamut of feelings, especially towards his family. Ian Cruz is a steady presence as Visarut. Diane Tsao is charming as mother Tesanee.

Dena Toler is also in fine form as Delia, her performance putting her fright into the audience. Ansley Valentine, as Felix, delivers as a man slowly realizing he can only evade the truth for so long.

And a shuddering salute to Kim Egan as the spectre. Director (and company namesake) Bryan Fonseca uses her and the cleverly designed set to accomplish a rare feat – to make a horror stage play truly frightening. There were moments audience members were practically jumping out of their seats.

There is more to this play than the scares, of course. It fulfills the FTC objective of showing and making us consider different cultural and ethnic perspectives. But it also makes one hell of a Halloween-season experience. Performances run through Nov. 10 at FTC’s newly-remodeled Basile Building, 2508 W. Michigan St. in Indy’s near-Westside. Get info and tickets at fonsecatheatre.org.