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Phoenix launches unflinching look at ‘Rocket Men’

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By John Lyle Belden

During 20th century developments in rocketry, its uses in warfare, and eventually in space exploration, there were contentious discussions regarding solid and liquid explosive fuels. Little is said, however, about how much blood it took.

Phoenix Theatre presents the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of “The Rocket Men,” by Crystal Skillman, directed by Chris Saunders.

Dodging the look of a dry documentary or acted out history lecture, Skillman’s drama uses an all-woman cast to portray the men, German scientists and engineers who avoided likely prosecution for working with the Nazi regime in World War II by bringing their expertise to the United States military. A credit to both the talented actors’ dedication and the costuming skill of Anthony James Sirk, their transformation is easy to accept, visually and in their performances (frustration with lesser minds and overbearing bureaucracy – and the thrill of invention – knows no gender).

Wernher von Braun (Constance Macy) is the star – and face – of the program. He is handsome and charismatic; Macy plays him rather enjoying his celebrity, humble-bragging how various meetings with the Pentagon, the press, and notables from President Eisenhower to Walt Disney, keep him from his actual work. He had also been a principal developer of the V-2 rocket which terrorized London during the War. Von Braun’s lifetime dream was to aim his rockets more skyward, into space. With American help, he planned to get mankind in orbit, then onward – to Mars!

We open our narrative with the arrival of Heinz-Hermann Koelle (Jaddy Ciucci), not an ex-member of the V-2 program but a German aviator in the War. He was at this moment a scientist with Martian ambitions of his own, invited by von Braun to join his team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. In the spirit of rookie hazing, the others call the young man a “janitor” at first, drawing mirth from Koelle’s reactions, but eventually warming to him.

Helmut Hoelzer (Jolene Mentink Moffatt) is the most easy-going, while Arthur Rudolph (Jennifer Johansen) is more stern, all business. William A. Mrazek (Milicent Wright) splits the difference attitude-wise, and is very particular about the arrangement of his work table. We will also meet Sol Weissman (Charlie Rankin), an American Army veteran and engineer who works on developing the team’s designs, and meets privately with Koelle. 

Always on hand to facilitate the scenes for the men and provide narration for us is a “Friend” (Karla “Bibi” Heredia).

There is dynamic pacing, events marching towards the future through the “history book” we know and things we may not. Still, Koelle – our outsider on the inside – is frequently reminded about the past. People like von Braun designed the wartime rockets, but others built them. Is there more to the story, something that must be reckoned with before moving forward? Ciucci achingly portrays his struggle as he faces these questions for us, fearing the answers while feeling they should become known.

The stage design by Robert M. Koharchik matches the narrative flow with tables and chairs on casters rolling in and out as needed. The lone stable piece is von Braun’s sturdy wooden desk, where he sets aside his celebrity to devote himself to the work – a future he must achieve while the past is forever set aside.

The progress from Army to NASA, “Orbiter” languishing in testing before Explorer is sent into orbit after the shock of Sputnik, “Project Horizon” to the Red Planet shelved as President Kennedy announces our plans for the Moon, then the team pushing the Apollo missions through the Johnson and Nixon administrations, play out in entertaining fashion, seen through the reactions of those who were there from the start.

There is also the book that no one will read. However, its message will eventually reach us, revealing why this story must be cast as it was.

This production also benefits from image projections by Katie Phelan Mayfield and the dramaturgy of Timothy W. Scholl. How much of what we see here is conjecture or dramatic license? A lot less than you should be comfortable with.

A history lesson you won’t soon forget, brilliantly performed, “The Rocket Men” has performances through Sept. 21 at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis. Get tickets and info at phoenixtheatre.org.

Where there’s a ‘Will,’ there’s a ‘Play’

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By John Lyle Belden

Indy Shakes, The Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, presents a performer who seems to conjure the spirit of William Shakespeare himself in a way you’ve never seen the Bard before.

“Gender Play, or, What You Will,” is a mostly one-person show by non-binary actor Will Wilhelm, written by Wilhelm with Erin Murray, and directed by Emily Tarquin. The current production is in the black-box Basile Theatre in the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre.

As we enter, we are asked to get into the spirit of the evening by picking up a Tarot card (yours to keep) and put on a bit of the various pieces of costuming made available to all (return those after). The seating is extremely casual, with comfy chairs around the stage. Wilhelm and his assistants Emily Root, Beks Roen and DJ Senaite Tekle mingle with us a bit before the show, encouraging the costuming and perhaps giving you a little scroll to read aloud at a point during the show.

It quickly becomes obvious that these proceedings are very queer – in all senses of the word!

Wilhelm tells us his personal story of struggling as a “trans, non-binary, genderqueer” actor in a theatre world that, though supportive, still wants to “type” people to roles.  He adores Shakespeare’s work – and that they share a first name – so one night he somehow manages to contact the long-dead playwright, who was, it turns out, “totes queer.”  

This is not an unheard-of assertion. Speculations of his sexuality (possibly bi) and the events of his life outside of Stratford and when not on stage in London are plentiful due to little documentation outside of comments by critics, and (of course) Shakespeare’s published works. Channeling the Bard, Will/Will tells of his relationship with Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton, a rather pretty young man judging by his portrait. Shakespeare did publicly dedicate a couple of romantic poems to him, and it is thought the Earl was secretly the subject of a number of sonnets.

Consider that in the plays there are a number of strong women, gender-fluidity in character disguises is common, and all female roles were played by men – giving us moments in which a man plays a woman who is pretending to be a man while still appearing obviously female to the audience. Taking this thought further, Wilhelm asks, “Could we train our brains to be gender imaginative?”

To this end, he recites passages and examines characters from a number of plays – including “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Macbeth,” “King Lear,” “Hamlet,” and the Chorus Prologue of “Henry V” – yielding fresh perspective from familiar material. In Juliet (of “Romeo &…”) he sees by his perspective of living in a world that gives a person little choice in how they can live and be true to themself how she, and many trans youth, meet her tragic end.

This frank discussion comes wrapped in a fabulous amount of fun, including a Tarot reading, a bit of magic, and an all-audience dance party with bubbles!  The result is like a wild combination of an unforgettable house party, an old-time séance, and a fascinating college lecture by your favorite professor. It’s an event with gay overtones that feels “gay” in the archaic joyful sense.

Aside from extra-dimensional forces, local entertainer Taylor Martin advised on the show’s magic. The comfy yet energizing stage set is by Caitlin Ayer. Shout-out also to Winter Olamina for Will’s perfect costuming.

We try not to overuse “must-see,” but if this seems interesting at all, please get to “Gender Play,” Thursday through Sunday, through April 27. For tickets, go to phoenixtheatre.org; get information at indyshakes.com.

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.