historical

War ends but struggle continues for returning soldier

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By John Lyle Belden

Center Stage Community Theatre of Lebanon, Ind., boldly presents the world premiere of the drama “Tail End Charlie,” by Joey Banks, directed by Matt Spurlock. This intense look at family dysfunction, mental health, and the hidden wounds of war might be considered daring for a small-town stage – yet apropos as it goes to the heart of the heartland with its setting in a fictional Lebanon-sized town (near Chicago), centered on a young man coming home from World War II.

But first, we see the soldier’s father (Tom Smith), his grasp on reality slipping, declaring both his sons are dead – Robert (Grant Craig), an Army Airman reported shot down over Normandy on D-Day; and elder son George (Davd A. Shaul), who lives but he chooses to see as a “ghost,” hated for costly alcohol and gambling addictions. Yet it is he, the old man, who will have passed away when our story gets under way the next summer, in 1945 with the War in Europe just ended.

Robert, who survived as a prisoner of war, gets home a little early, surprising his wife Dorothy (Sabrina Duprey) as she prepares the homecoming celebration. She is grateful to see him in the flesh, especially after the ordeal of being told he had perished the year before. George arrives with a cheerful greeting, but bad news: their father’s business, Dobson Manufacturing, which Robert would inherit and George managed in his stead, is in danger of being overwhelmed by big-city competitors. Remembering how his brother used to be, Robert rails at him for apparent incompetence until he sees the books himself – and the buy-out bids that would land them on their financial feet, as well as give a severance to the employees facing unemployment regardless.

As Robert mulls the difficult choices regarding his legacy, keeping at bay growing suspicions and unsettled memories, a slick character straight from a gangster flick (Matt McKee) walks in. The man says he’s Frank, a “friend” of George’s, who still owes him money.

Did George lie about giving up gambling? Or is Frank even real? The elder Dobson suffered from hallucinations, even calling one of them Frank, as his mental and physical health deteriorated. Is it just Robert’s overstressed mind, or is there something increasingly wrong with how his wife is behaving? Visits from Dr. Ross (Chris Taylor) offer little insight, though Robert feels confident enough while alone with him to relate haunting details from his crash and capture by the Germans.

Suspense and suspicion build to a tragic end, leaving us much to consider about the fragility of the mind, especially when forced to choose when there is no good choice. The play’s title refers to the vulnerable position of Robert’s aircraft, flying at the rear of the formation. In a way, his fortunes never get better.

Smith lends calm gravitas to the Dobson patriarch, even in a mental fog, delivering a scene that sets the play’s tone with a character whose lingering effect haunts both his sons. Shaul plays George in a way that deftly keeps us guessing – is this a redemption arc, or is he an exceptional liar? Duprey gives us a heartbreaking portrayal of “Dee,” a good-natured woman worn down by the stresses of the homefront, nearly broken with the news of the previous summer, and still struggling to do more than deal with other people’s circumstances.

Craig does well in giving us in Robert the soldier whose demeanor is not quite off the battlefield – survival reflexes now manifest in hair-trigger moods and snap reactions, compounded by the possibility of a sort of family curse, and the mental baggage he doesn’t dare unpack. Then there’s Frank, a merciless provocateur with the insight of a nagging conscience, which McKee plays with relish.

Language gets intense, though mostly PG-13; there is some impressively choreographed fighting; and we are alerted there will be a gunshot – the circumstances I’ll leave you to discover.

“Tail End Charlie” has two more weekends, July 25-27 and Aug. 1-3, at 604 Powell St. in Lebanon. Get tickets at centerstagecommunitytheatre.org.

New ensemble makes a splash with true tale

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By John Lyle Belden

An incredible amount of local talent coalesced within the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre to present the first production of JoJoTomBilBen Theatricals, “The Magnificent Fall: Folding Napkins, Selecting Forks, and Other Death-Defying Feats,” based on the true story of Annie Edson Taylor, the first person to ride a barrel over Niagara Falls and survive.

Jolene Mentink Moffatt portrays Annie, joined on stage by John M. Goodson and Ben Asaykwee in various roles – these are the “Jo,” “Jo,” and “Ben” of the company. The play is directed by Bill Simmons (the “Bil”) and was written by Tom Horan (the “Tom,” of course), employing his style that examines history and legend with quirky humor and our tricky relationship with memory.

Goodson primarily portrays Annie’s talkative housecat, our principal narrator. Asaykwee’s roles include Mr. Carmichael, who makes the barrel, and Frank Russell, the carnival promoter who later makes off with it. Initially, his default mode is as the star pupil of Mrs. Taylor, who we meet as a teacher of Manners in a Bay City, Mich., school in 1900. This is one of many jobs and locales in this woman’s life (being a bit older than she’ll ever admit to), and she resolves to take her plunge into history at the Falls near Buffalo, N.Y., on her birthday in October 1901.

In fact, we are all Annie’s students, as there is a degree of audience participation.

Overall, this is a fascinating and entertaining examination of the process of achieving this “brash and irrational act” as well as what happens afterward, complete with whimsical elements – such as dueling mustaches – while relating the efforts of those who did not do so well at the Falls. The wild humor rolls with a serious undercurrent, the question of why this aging widow went through her daredevil phase. In this, perhaps the play’s title refers to more than just Niagara’s plummeting waters.

Moffatt’s charming portrayal is of an American woman of the turn of the (20th) century, seeing and seizing opportunity with a confidence that exaggerates her courage as it dashes ahead, like an object in roaring rapids, too fast for second thoughts to catch up. Goodson is appropriately catty, even when taking on a human role, and we even see his feline’s essential true role in the Niagara stunt. Asaykwee shines in his own way – not too brightly, though, with his knack for not stealing a scene in another’s story but always slyly enhancing it. Simmons’ subtle yet effective direction gives the narrative a genuine feel, and he says in his program note that there was collaboration with the actors, Horan, stage manager Erin Robson-Smith, and crew throughout to shape the final presentation. The show also features props and fine puppets by Emily Solt McGee.

For this and one more weekend, through July 20, you can see the “Queen of the Mist” and her various methods of folding napkins (and other feats) in “The Magnificent Fall” on the Basile Stage of the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

‘Laramie Project’ at IF Theatre

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By John Lyle Belden

Twenty-seven years, this October.

That is how long it has been since the murder of Matthew Shepard. About five years longer than he was alive.

The memory of that life, how the gay college student was brutally beaten and left to die tied to a wooden fence, and how the aftermath changed a town and affected the world were captured by the Tectonic Theatre Project, led by Moises Kaufman, in “The Laramie Project.” This play – more like a staged documentary derived from actual interviews and journal entries – is presented by Picture It! Players at IF Theatre through Sunday (May 18).

Directed by Molly Bellner, the cast of Austin Uebelhor, Thom Turner, Adam Phillips, Ryan Moskalick, Amelia Tryon, Cass Knowling, Susan Yeaw, Mary-Margaret Sweeney, and James LaMonte portray both the project interviewers and the people of Laramie, Wyoming, whom they talked to.

Among various roles, Uebelhor plays Kaufman and a priest who organized the candlelight vigil while Shepard was in a coma; Turner is the overwhelmed police sergeant tasked with the case as well as the E.R. doctor who initially treated Shepard, and, coincidentally, one of his attackers; Phillips plays the bartender who was among the last to see Shepard before his attack, as well as a minister preaching against homosexuality; Moskalick’s roles include a theatre student whose perspective widens and one of the attackers, dodging the death penalty by pleading guilty; Tryon relates being the police officer on the scene cutting the cords binding a bloody body, while Yeaw is her concerned mother; Knowling plays a close female friend of “Matt” as well as the teen cyclist who found him dying in the Wyoming countryside; Sweeney gives the view of the head of the University of Wyoming theatre department as well as a local newspaper reporter; LaMonte gives us the empathetic Sheriff’s department investigator as well as the infamously cruel Fred Phelps.

This is an important piece of theatre, an examination of a life, a senseless sadistic crime, and of the rest of us – how we deal with what happened as well as our attitudes and beliefs.

We had seen a production before, on the 20th anniversary of Shepard’s death in 2018. I knew what to expect, however, this time I was struck by the degree of appropriately measured humor in this play. The awkward interactions that come from strangers from a New York theatre coming out West to talk to folks about this absolute worst thing that had happened does set up a few gentle laughs. Upon reflection of the kind of love for life Matt Shepard was known to exhibit this bit of levity is welcome, humanizing the many people dealing with this trauma in their own way. On the other hand, knowing this is based on true events, it didn’t take stage trickery to bring real tears to the actors’ eyes.

Only two performances, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, remain as I post this. It’s on the IF Theatre Basile main stage, 719 E. St. Clair St., downtown Indianapolis; get tickets at indyfringe.org.

Southbank: Seeing ‘Red’ in Black and White

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By John Lyle Belden

American-born actor Ira Aldridge was the first man of African descent to play the lead role in Shakespeare’s “Othello” on the London stage in 1833.

(The tragic character Othello, as most know, was a Moor, dark-skinned from African heritage. But especially as he is the title role, even when Black actors were available in England he was always played by a White man in blackface.)

The play “Red Velvet,” by Lolita Chakrabarti, presented by Southbank Theatre Company, is about this and more, taking measure of a complex and controversial artist with particular emphasis on one of his many milestones.

We open and close the play in 1867 with Aldridge (Daniel Wilke) on what would be his final tour of Europe, performing “King Lear” in Lodz, Poland. We learn he has been a celebrity throughout the Continent and in the U.K., where he also managed a theatre. Turning 60, he is impatient, blustery, and forbids any press interviews (we’ll understand why later).

A young Polish reporter, Halina (Hannah Embree), manages to make her way into his dressing room, talking the actor into taking a few questions. Feeling her to be impertinent, he then sends her away. However, the memories have been triggered, and our scene switches to London, more than 30 years earlier.

During a sold-out London production of “Othello,” famed actor Edmond Kean, in the title role, has collapsed on stage and will never tread the boards again. Theatre manager Pierre LaPorte (Brant Hughes), a friend of Aldridge, sees a chance to make theatre history. Politically progressive company member Henry Forester (J Charles Weimer), who also supports the demonstrations against slavery in the British Empire raging at the time, likes the idea, but fellow thespians Bernard Ward (Doug Powers) and especially Kean’s son Charles (Matt Hartzburg) – who plays the Moor’s murderous rival Iago – do not.

It is argued that the British stage is for escapist fantasy, where a regular (White) person can pretend to be something he is not. This form of stark realism, Ward remarks, is as absurd as a real simpleton playing Caliban or a real Jew as Shylock. Still, LaPorte is adamant and the show goes on, with Aldridge baring his natural face.

While the men seem to fit archetypes one would expect to see in a story of shaking up things in a treasured institution, the women each take an intriguing perspective.

Ellen Tree (Liz Carrier), like the tragic female lead Desdemona that she plays, seems caught in the middle. She must act opposite Aldridge, the focus of this controversy, and she is the fiancé of Charles Kean, who threatens to walk out in protest. Her allegiance is to the company, and she seems intrigued by this American’s approach to the play and its characters. Wilke and Carrier, like the actors they portray, skillfully present themselves as professionals rehearsing a married couple who must stand close and touch each other as they are bonded by love and destroyed by jealousy. Is that all we see? Neither they nor Chakrabarti’s script under the direction of Donna McFadden give us an easy or definitive answer.

In a role of sublime subtlety capped by the profound moments when she finally speaks her mind, Kendall Maxwell is exquisite as the servant Connie. Just her presence at the back of the room – standing in contrast to the man of color who is treated as a peer and equal to the others who only see her as little more than a tea-serving automaton – speaks volumes.

Rachel Kelso plays Aldrige’s wife, Margaret, casually trusting and true to her famous husband. Her understanding helps buoy our feelings for Ira Aldridge, who in turn expresses genuine affection for her, especially when she is no longer with him.

Embree is also impressive, giving us a character having to power through her own issues in a society determined to limit her.

Also, in the 1867 scenes Weimer amusingly plays a randy German stagehand, while Powers is Aldridge’s longsuffering personal assistant.

Hughes delivers a sharp performance as one struggling to keep both a career and a friendship without losing both. His character’s Frenchness makes him a sufficient outsider to be the catalyst of change, still, he’s all (show) business for his role in these events.

We come to find in the play’s title an aspect of Aldridge’s life’s arc. He recalls peering through velvet curtains as a boy to see his first plays; as an adult, he dons a crimson velvet cloak as the Moor. (Just one of many excellent costumes by Karen Cones.) Turning convention on its head, in preparing to play the aging King, he applies greasepaint to lighten his skin.

A reflection and commentary on racial and gender discrimination that has us considering how much has truly changed, and what it has taken to change it, wrapped in an intriguing portrait of a historic individual, “Red Velvet” has one weekend of performances left, Thursday through Sunday, May 1-4, at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd Street, Indianapolis (Butler University campus).  Get info and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.

‘Lockefield’ showing lots of promise

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By John Lyle Belden

We got an early look at a new play, “Lockefield on the Ave,” presented by Black Light Training and Development on March 28-30, 2025, at The District Theatre. The following paragraphs are my response, posted to the PWJW Facebook page to help get the word around during its one-weekend run. Black Light is doing important artistic work with local creatives in contributing to the story of being Black in America, and especially in Indiana.

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This short play by Robert Webster focuses on the Indiana Avenue scene in Indianapolis in the mid-20th century. Percy Davis (Quinton Hayden) has a little bar on the Avenue. It was started by his father Freeman (Gene Tommy Howard) after a moment of good luck, before his fortunes reversed tragically thanks to his former boss – and Klan member – Jack Sucker (Ray Graham). Jack’s bigotry was inherited from his hooded father and Confederate grandfahter, but his son Tom (Clay Mabbitt) doesn’t see things that way and, as an aspiring journalist, goes so far as to attempt to write for the Black-owned Indianapolis Recorder. In what we will realize is a full circle moment, Tom interviews Percy to get an honest perspective on Indianapolis Avenue and the people there.

We get a lot of information on the characters and especially Indy’s Black history, aided by fellow cast members T. J. O’Neil, Sam Hill, and Tamara Taylor. Much of it feels like a sort of staged documentary, but the true story of the Avenue is something we all need to learn or be reminded of, as it has been largely left out of local history.

With tight direction by Eric Washington, this play is like a rough-cut diamond. There is a lot of potential for Webster and Black Light to polish and form with more drama and perhaps a two-act structure to bring together its elements – including plot points like the Davis pocketwatch, publishing the story, and the Sucker family dynamic – into a priceless gem of theatre. What we have so far is like a healthy first course of soul food, making us hungry for more.

Note that to be authentic, the N-word and opinions that thankfully are not so common now are freely expressed, in their proper context. Take comfort that this show ends with a moment of unity.

A big shout-out to Black Light interim artistic director TJ Rowley for giving me and Wendy a sneak-peek at this precious jewel, with our hope of continued success for the company.

Agape: True story of youthful resistance to a cruel regime

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By John Lyle Belden

“We are your bad conscience” – from Leaflet 4 of The White Rose, summer 1942

Agape Theatre Company established itself as exploring the conjunction of faith and the theater arts, and with “Why We Must Die So Young,” adds one of the darkest moments in human history.

Written and directed by local playwright William Gebby, this drama tells the story of The White Rose, a resistance movement of students at the University of Munich, roughly from May 1942 to February 1943. This would be during the height of Nazi Germany’s power and territorial gains; Munich is in Bavaria, southern Germany, at the time deep within the Axis powers’ empire.

Agape shows are typically youth productions, however, this play has an appropriate mix of young artists and adults which maintains a realistic look, aside from apt costuming and the jarring presence of Nazi flags at the corners of the stage. Another important aspect is that from the beginning the audience is alerted to the fate of the White Rose members portrayed: all, save one, will be executed. This, in addition to expressions of faith by the characters, gives the drama the aura of a Passion Play. We know how it will end and must deal with that growing tension, yet a theme is the perseverance of the expressed ideal beyond death.  

Sophie Scholl (Sofy Vida), whose family members see Nazi ideology as antithetical to Christianity, departs from their home in Ulm (directly west of Munich, just over the Bavarian border) to join her brother Hans (Joshua Lehman) at the University. There they, along with schoolmates Traute Lafrenz (Megan Janning), Christoph Probst (Codie Monhollen), Alexander Schmorell (Joey Devine), and Willi Graf (Thor Hunter) attend the lectures of Prof. Kurt Huber (Robert K. Fimreite), who openly yet cleverly expresses his disdain for the current regime. Moved by his increasingly un-subtle calls to action, the young men and Sophie secretly make and distribute their first anti-Nazi leaflet.

Being Hans’s girlfriend, Traute is kept out of the loop – which she resents, as she quickly figured out what’s happening. She thus soon joins and adds a loose network of like-thinking friends in other cities. Huber, once he is informed who wrote the leaflets (and that it’s not a Gestapo trap), also joins the White Rose, authoring one of its most powerful messages.

Mac Williams and Agape founder Kathy Phipps play Hans and Sophie’s conscientious parents, with Julianna Britt as younger sister Inge. Hannah Schwitzer is Gisela, one of the kids’ friends in Ulm.

We also meet Chelsea Jackman as Prof. Huber’s wife Clara; assistant director Leslie Gebby as intellectual Frau Docktor Mertens; and Matthias Neidenberger, Candice Clorinda, Albert F. Lahrmann III, Nathan Rakes, Doug Rollison, and Ruth Bowen in other roles.

The story moves at a steady pace through numerous short scenes, the small underground movement progressing while its participants maintain near-impossible optimism, feeling at times fraught but carrying on aided by youthful recklessness. There is only slight lag in the transitions; I wonder if a future staging with a large three-side turntable of setpieces might improve the flow. We get not only the growth of the White Rose’s reach, but also the more persistent and desperate search by the authorities to shut it down. Our young agitators knew the risks, but that doesn’t reduce the impact of inevitable tragedy.

Vida is simply inspiring as Sophie, earnest and faithful. Lehman takes to his role like a committed soldier (which Hans also was) showing his bravery is not bluster. Monhollen gives all aspects of a complex character – Probst being concerned for both the safety of his wife and children, and the fate of his nation. Our father figures – boldly shown by Fimreite and Williams – are stalwarts as well, willing to stand up to unjust authority in a dangerous era.

Important history which could be seen as inspiration during current events, “Why We Must Die So Young: The story of the White Rose Resistance,” has three more dates, Friday through Sunday, March 14-16, at Arts for Lawrence’s Theater at the Fort, 8920 Otis Ave., northeast Indianapolis. Get tickets at artsforlawrence.org.

Searching through old pages for family

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By John Lyle Belden

This is a play about a woman who committed to writing a play, based on her great-grandfather’s diary, which – when she made the proposal – she had barely read.

“The Berlin Diaries” by Andrea Stolowitz is presented by the Phoenix Theatre as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Jennifer and Rob Johansen are listed as playing Andrea and Max (the patriarch diarist) but play all roles. Stolowitz constructed the narrative to always be in her (Andrea’s) point of view, which can be expressed by either actor as herself speaking or others talking to her, including Max’s words coming forward from 1939. Thanks to the skill of both veteran Equity performers, this is easier to follow that you’d think, and gives new perspective to talking things over with yourself.

The play is directed by Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre artistic director Constance Macy and Rabbi Brett Krichiver, who also understudy.

Andrea has a grant and an apartment in Berlin, Germany, to develop her dramatic work based on the diary kept within a family who seem to now be so few, and who hardly get along. In the 1930s, Max Conreich and various relatives lived in the city, but he managed to escape to New York before the Nazi regime closed in. Also, she discovers, other family made their way to Brazil, Jewish Palestine (now Israel), South Africa, Australia, Argentina, and elsewhere.

This journey of discovery is a unique perspective on stories of the Holocaust. The horrors of those lost in death camps is touched upon, yet there is also the loss of connectivity in the scattering of people to avoid those horrors. In Andrea’s family, the spirit of avoidance lingers to today’s generations.

Andrea’s hunt for “people lost like library books” through Skype calls, interviewing relatives, and volumes of old paperwork is engaging and fascinating. Especially in Jen and Rob’s hands, the play that Stolowitz set out on blind faith to make works beautifully.

As much a part of the show as the actors is the exceptional set designed by Zac Hunter, with a huge tree – a family tree, you could say – made with book-cover bark and book pages for leaves. The plight of Jews to always be on the move, as well as Andrea’s travels, are exemplified by the various suitcases employed as props and furniture, constantly rearranged throughout the show.

Fulfil Max’s wishes by engaging with “The Berlin Diaries,” through March 16 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

Footlite: ‘Change’ shines

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By John Lyle Belden

When you are the singular housekeeper working in the basement of a modest home, it can feel like your only friends are the new washer and dryer. The swish-swish of the laundry sings to you, a rhythm matched by the Motown backup singers on the radio.

This is the world of Caroline Thibodeaux in “Caroline, or Change,” presented by Footlite Musicals, directed by Bradley Alan Lowe. It is the Indiana premiere of this 2003 Broadway musical by Tony Kushner, with music by Jeanine Tesori, based on Kushner’s own childhood.

Caroline (Damaris Burgin), a Black single mother in Lake Charles, La., in 1963, is fortunate to have a job working for the Gellman family even though they can’t pay much. Their young son, Noah (Asher Ortman) has taken a liking to her, but mostly her companions are Washing Machine (Anya Andrews), Dryer (Markell Pipkins), and The Radio (Jada Radford, Nia Hughes and Vivian Husband). We also meet personifications of the Bus (Samuel McKanney) that brings her to this neighborhood and the Moon (Angela Manlove) that shines up above. But this is not “Beauty and the Beast” – the feeling is closer to “Driving Miss Daisy” but as a musical is almost entirely sung-through. Consider it like an opera for the domestic servant, with music that includes Gospel, R&B, and Jewish Klezmer refrains.

Noah has his own difficulties, as his mother died and his musician father Stuart (Phil Criswell) is remarried, to close family friend Rose (Emily Mae Gaddy), of which the boy does not approve. Also on hand are his Gellman grandparents (Dan Flahive and Gisele Dollinger).

Caroline rides the homeward bus with fellow domestic Dotty (Zarah Shejule). She shares her small home with daughters Emmie (Kaylee Johnson-Bradley), Jackie (Cairo Graves), and Jo (Praia Graves) – her son is with the Army in Vietnam.

Rose notices that, being a typically careless boy, Noah keeps leaving pocket change in his pants when they go into the laundry. She decides to teach him a lesson by announcing that whatever Caroline finds, she gets to keep. However, the boy then makes a point of leaving nickels, dimes, and quarters to see what happens. As for Caroline, the arrangement doesn’t feel right, but this small “raise” is making a big difference for her girls.

National events are naturally at the edge of this story. They are in a relatively quiet Southern city, but still hear news of JFK as well as the Civil Rights struggle elsewhere – also, the statue of a Confederate “hero” in the center of town has disappeared.

Things get more interesting with the Hannukah visit of Rose’s father. Mr. Stopnick (Graham Brinklow) is a liberal New Yorker who feels for what “Negroes” are going through, but wishes they would take a different approach than that of Martin Luther King Jr.

Performances are wonderful all around. Burgin is endearing yet tough as the title character. The limits of her pride are often tested as dealing with “change,” in any form, makes her stronger. Johnson-Bradley is fierce as Emmie, an impetuous youth finding her voice and place in the world she’s growing into. Ortman’s Noah is a likable kid who makes mistakes but means well, though he learns that not everything you say can be taken back.

The most complex role, next to Caroline, turns out to be Rose. Gaddy plays her as someone who realizes she is the “evil stepmother” in this tale and defies that by showing she does care in her own way. At first homesick for New York, she dedicates herself to the household and family she has chosen, including the boy she hopes one day with love her, and the proud Black woman she tries to understand.

Discover this unconventional look at some interesting people (and appliances). “Caroline, or Change” plays through March 16 at 1847 N. Alabama St., downtown Indianapolis. Get tickets at footlite.org.

Southbank: It truly is all relative

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By John Lyle Belden

Very few people can know what it is like to be Albert Einstein – arguably, one – but did he understand, or care, what it is like to be the rest of us?

In “Relativity,” a drama by Mark St. Germain presented by Southbank Theatre Company, in December 1949 Einstein (Anthony Johnson) receives a visit from a young reporter, Margaret (Morgan Morton), at his home on the Princeton University campus. His housekeeper/secretary Ms. Dukas (Miki Mathioudakis) doesn’t approve, but the lauded genius welcomes another opportunity to talk about himself and his contributions to physics.

However, since his decades of research, discovery, and scholarly work had been written about numerous times already, Margaret maneuvers the interview to other topics, such as Einstein’s two marriages, and his children. What’s there to say, Einstein says, reciting the publicly known facts.

But she has also interviewed Albert’s son – now things get serious.

In this imagined incident, employing Einstein’s own quotations and writing, one of the greatest intellects of the last century is probed to explore the nature of relationships, family, and what is important. We confront the burden of genius: what it owes the world, and what we owe to it.

Director Ronn Johnston said what we see on the stage is so much more than what one would read from the script. He worked with our highly-talented trio to bring life and dimension to these characters – two we don’t know and one we can only presume to – to give a more genuine, relatable conversation between one leading with the heart and another from his unique brain.

This comes at a time when Einstein, who felt he had brought order to our understanding of the universe, explored the new frontier of quantum theory, reconciling the unpredictable with his predictable cosmos. But where in this universe does a child fit in?

Johnson nicely embodies the walking contradiction of the serious intellect with the wild hair, relaxed suit and quotable sense of humor. Incomprehensibly complex equations calm him, while discussion of close relations brings on a darker countenance and mood. Morton seems to combine the aspects of a strong woman and questioning child into a single irresistible interrogator.  Mathioudakis portrays a tireless defender feeling she may be the only one to truly understand the man, including his flaws.

Energy and matter, or the people who matter – explore “Relativity” Thursday through Sunday at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd Street, Indianapolis (Butler University campus).  Get info and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.

Belfry blesses us with ‘Little Women’

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By John Lyle Belden

“When you feel discontented, think on your blessings.”

This mother’s advice to her four daughters lends a theme to Louisa May Alcott’s classic autobiographical novel, “Little Women.” The Belfry Theatre, as part of its 60th season, presents the book’s adaptation by John Ravold at First UMC in Noblesville.

In December, 1862, we meet the Marsh sisters in their modest Massachusetts home: headstrong tomboy Jo (Emily Haus); kind, nurturing Meg (Emma Gedig); proud, self-centered Amy (Natalie Piggush); and shy “Mousie” Beth (Lizzie Schultz). Jo (patterned after Alcott herself) is also a writer, and leads her siblings in rehearsing a melodramatic play with an audience of supportive mother Marmee (Mary Garner) and young neighbor Laurie (Gideon Roark) who has brought his slightly-older tutor John Brooke (Samuel Smith). Slipping in at the back of the parlor is the very strict, proper, and wealthy Aunt March (Christina Burch).

This play-within-the-play involves some brilliant “acting” by the girls, including Jo in a wild mustache, providing a scene of comedy that alone is worth your ticket to the Belfry show. But moods soon change as a telegram arrives from Father (away at Washington, DC, as a chaplain to the Union Army), and Marmee must depart to be with him.

The second of three acts (intermission comes between II and III) gives the bulk of the original novel, including the arrival of Father (Rob Lawson) and another bit of awkward comedy as Meg and John sort out their feelings for each other. We also get a hot-tempered clash between Amy and Jo, and Beth’s tragically declining health.

The third act, set later, includes part of the “Good Wives” second part of the novel and introduces Professor Bhaer (James Semmelroth Darnell), Jo’s German friend arriving from New York.

Directed by Barcia Alejos, assisted by her son, Daniel Alejos, this production is charming and beautifully presented. Haus is outstanding as Jo, bringing all the aspects of a young woman ahead of her time, yet very much in the spirit of new ideas endemic to mid-1800s New England and changes brought by the Civil War era. Gedig, Piggush, and Schultz also bring life to their archetypes, helping us feel for their individual struggles. Roark is good-natured and Smith dashing, even the characters seeming content to be supporting roles in this feminine world. Garner and Lawson make parenting almost look care-free. As for Burch, her stoic portrayal reflects a woman who has learned only one way for a woman to be strong in their society, and dares not let her nieces stray from it – still, we get hints that there is a heart under that rigid corset.

The story we see does differ a bit from Alcott’s writings, resulting in unfamiliar scenes. Unfortunately, Ravold’s liberties in adaptation also include a couple of anachronisms. They can be ignored, and shouldn’t take away from the excellent work of cast and crew.

“Little Women” has another weekend of performances, Thursday (with special pricing) and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., at 2051 Monument St. (enter at Door 2 on the north side, not main church entrance). Get tickets at the thebelfrytheatre.com.