Inseung Park

Clever casting lends depth to ‘Hollow’

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

There is something unusual about “Two Mile Hollow,” the play by award-winning writer (and Butler alum) Leah Nanako Winkler at the Phoenix Theatre, as well as the titular estate, a mansion in the rich neighborhood of East Hampton – home to the family of a Hollywood legend.

Years have passed since the death of Oscar-winning movie star Derek Donnelly, but his widow Blythe (Milicent Wright) still holds fast to his memory. Their children – Joshua (Eddie Dean), Mary (Paige Elisse), and Emmy-winner Christopher (Jay Fuqua) – want to get hold of Derek’s possessions. Christopher arrived with his personal assistant, Charlotte (Arianne Villareal), which becomes an additional complication.

It quickly becomes evident that this is a clever comedy, taking its swings at elitism and lifestyles of millionaire performers, done with heavy-handed melodrama. But it is in its intended casting that this play becomes a brilliant work of satire. It’s not just the uncomfortable things said by these characters that deliver the desired punch, but who we see saying them.

If you find yourself confused – “Are they…?”— just note that they are as they present themselves, and go with it. Immerse yourself in the layers of meaning, let yourself laugh at the goofy things you find there. If more serious aspects soak in, that was the intended effect.

I would go into detail on the excellence of the performances, but I don’t want to give too much of a hint of what is happening. Wright’s casting brings big expectations, which she and company exceed. Mikael Burke returns to direct another provocative piece of theatre art.

Scenic design by Inseung Park makes the house at Two Mile Hollow its own character, complete with the smiling face of the late patriarch, the serious whimsy of Post-its, and signs of decay that the characters either ignore or fail to notice.

Appropriately, the big concept comes with big laughs, like if a “Dr. Strangelove” style film were made by the Wayans Brothers and directed by Wes Anderson. To see what we mean, performances run through April 30 at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. For info and tickets, see PhoenixTheatre.org.

Phoenix: Coming of age in home haunted by history

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NOTE: “The Magnolia Ballet” is not a “ballet” in the conventional sense. The Google/Oxford definition of ballet is “an artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures.” This drama, the world premiere of a new play by Terry Guest at the Phoenix Theatre through April 10, is neither a musical nor danced-through, but displays its own rhythm as it deals with codified steps in a society long steeped in restrictive tradition. — JLB

By Wendy Carson

Ghosts exist, whether you believe in them or not. They are especially prevalent in the South where so much pain and struggle caused by slavery, racism, and general prejudices have caused countless souls unrest.

Young Ezekial (Isaiah Moore), “Z,” the sixth of his name, knows these ghosts all too well. Descended from slaves who bought freedom, only to be pressed into servitude again, they haunt his days and nights. His best friend Danny (Andrew Martin), has different issues — a mix of pride and shame in his family heritage of slave-owners, lynchers, and KKK members. 

The two families have long lived next to each other in rural Georgia in a tentative peace, but the current generation are close enough to be brothers. In fact, Z and Danny have apparently shared a lot.

Ezekial’s widower father (Daniel Martin), doesn’t think his son should be spending so much time away from the homestead and the endless chores needed for upkeep. While he’s not an outwardly affectionate man, he tries to do his best for his son. 

As the boys are working on a school project about the Civil War, Z is urged by his father to look through the shed for some of his grandfather’s old papers to help out. There he finds a trove of love letters that will forever change his life, showing him he has much more in common with Grandfather Ezekial than he imagined.

Floating throughout the story is an Apparition (Eddie Dean), ever-present and mostly observing rather than interfering. 

Moore is superb in his portrayal of a gay youth who just wants to enjoy his life and childhood. He brings out the joys and frustrations of the character, especially his quest to discover the truth of the letters and their author.

Daniel Martin gives a delicate performance as a father trying to do the best for his son by instilling in him a fierce work ethic while hardening him to the truth of the world. He also makes a delightful cameo as Danny Mitchell’s (white) father. 

Andrew Martin shows Danny as a simple country boy who, while not ashamed of his racist background, seems to not even notice that his best friend is black. While insisting he is not gay in the slightest, he does have a deep love for his friend that challenges his admonitions.

Dean ably takes on the role of the glue that holds this narrative together, the spirit of past and present that, in their own way, calls the tune of this “dance.”

In the first step of a National New Play Network Rolling Premiere (it will later be staged afresh in New York and Michigan), director Mikael Burke makes both subtle and bold choices, from the way Z shifts his demeanor between having to “man up” and being himself, to the thematic use of “outrunning the fire.” Kudos also to fight/intimacy choreographer Laraldo Anzaldua, and set design by Inseung Park. 

Designated “Part 1” of a planned trilogy, this “Magnolia Ballet” is a complete story with much to say, think upon, and discuss. Find the Phoenix at 705 N. Illinois, Indianapolis; find information and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

Historical heroes share power of friendship in ‘Agitators’

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

One interesting bit of American history is that two of the most influential civil rights figures of the 19th century, Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, were also close friends. That relationship is explored in “The Agitators,” by Mat Smart, now at the Phoenix Theatre.

Douglass (played by Jerome Beck) was a former slave who spoke out on the evils of that institution. He meets Anthony (Lauren Briggeman) through her activist Quaker father. The initial meeting is a little rough, but Douglass tells her, “I am your friend.” “Though I put you off?” Anthony replies. “It is a trait I most admire in a friend,” he responds.

Indeed, the play’s title is not only apt, but embraced. “Agitate, agitate, agitate!” Douglass advises. And they do, both to end slavery and to secure equal rights for women. At first it is abolition that is the cause. They host a stop on the Underground Railroad, making beds with books — the seeds of knowledge denied to slaves — as pillows. They approach the oncoming war with hope and worry for the nation’s future. Then, in Reconstruction, the spectre of compromise raises up as it appears that black men will receive the vote ahead of women.

These two share a deep friendship, and fiery yet eloquent arguments — “Don’t quote me to me!” — but never stay apart long, standing steadfast for each other. Beck and Briggeman portray these very human heroes with excellence, helping us to feel their ongoing struggles against society, injustice, politics, and occasionally each other. Though it is just these two we see, the Phoenix mainstage is barely big enough to contain them, on a creative stage design by Inseung Park, with lighting by Zac Hunter. Mikael Burke, who also captained the IRT’s “Watson’s Go To Birmingham,” directs.

As Black History Month has given way to Women’s History Month, we still have so much to learn of both. As Douglass implores at a critical moment in the play, “Look at what is before you, and see what I see.” 

Performances of “The Agitators” run through March 22 at the Phoenix, 705 N. Illinois in downtown Indianapolis. Free tickets for students are available. Call 317-635-7529 or visit PhoenixTheatre.org.