J. Charles Weimer

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.

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.

Betty Rage lets us in on a secret

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By John Lyle Belden

Betty Rage Productions presents the longest-running stage play, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” in cooperation with The Scottish Rite Valley of Indianapolis, at Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral, directed by the company’s original “Betty,” Callie Burk-Hartz.

The quirky whodunit opened in London in 1952, around when the play is set, and has been performed perpetually since (except for a break for Covid). For the second time in recent memory, this fun mystery plays in Indianapolis, with the hope that all who see it keep to the long-standing tradition to reveal to no one its secrets, including who “dun” it.

As the radio gives a bulletin about a brazen murder in London, near Paddington, Mollie and Giles Ralston (Hannah Embree and Charles Weimer) arrive to prepare Monkswell Manor for its guests. Married just a year, they have just acquired the old home located 30 miles outside the city and have just opened it as a rooming house. She seems wistful and hopeful, while he is stoic and matter-of-fact, still they share a subtle affection.

Just as a blizzard intensifies to confine everyone to the manor (naturally, this is a Christie story after all) we meet hyper and talkative aspiring architect Christopher Wren (named after the famous one, played by Matt Hartzburg); the “perfectly horrible” and never pleased Mrs. Boyle (Gigi Jennewein); easy-going retired soldier Major Metcalf (Mookie Harris); Miss Casewell (Michelle Wafford) whose trousers and attitude mark her as her own woman, brooding and secretive; and finally the expressive and wildly Italian-accented Mr. Paravacini (Lukas Schooler) who not only tells you up-front that you can’t trust a thing he says, he seems to delight in it. The latter is a surprise arrival, having (allegedly) stuck his car in a snowbank, forcing him to walk to this, the nearest house.

Speaking of surprises, local policeman Sergeant Trotter (Aaron Stillerman) suddenly arrives on skis to investigate how Monkswell and its occupants are apparently related to the murder mentioned above. “Three Blind Mice” is the theme of the goings-on, and when body number two is found, the plot intensifies in a quest for the identities of both the killer and the endangered third “mouse.”

Performances are excellent with steady accents. Each acts suspiciously in their own way, keeping fellow characters and the audience guessing. Hartzburg and especially Schooler have a blast with their hilarious over-the-top characters, as others on stage remark on their eccentricities to reassure us that neither is too intense for what the setting and story allow.

Liz Carrier is assistant director and Jamie Rich stage manager. The Scottish Rite provides, aside from the beautiful J. Robert Wortman Auditorium, a stage crew as well as set and props. This includes behind the stage’s central windows a scenic backdrop that dates back to the Cathedral’s first presentations in 1929 (which explains why it is kept as-is and not “snow” covered).

The play only has a single-weekend run, with remaining performances Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9, at 650 N. Meridian, downtown Indianapolis (big castle-like building, you can’t miss it). Promise not to tell, and come see who gets caught in “The Mousetrap.” Get tickets at bettyrageproductions.com.

We love Southbank

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By John Lyle Belden

The power and mystique of the Shakespeare tragedy “Hamlet” are so strong, one can talk about and around the play and not only impart its importance, but also tell a story that stands on its own. This our young protagonist learns in the comedy “I Hate Hamlet,” by Paul Rudnick, presented by Southbank Theatre Company, directed by Eric Bryant.

Set in the early 1990s, television star Andrew Rally (J. Charles Weimer) rebounds from the cancelation of his show by going to New York to play the lead in a Shakespeare in the Park production of “Hamlet.” To be honest, he doesn’t really want to do it, being self-aware that his talent lies more in the small screen than on a big stage.

Still, his girlfriend Deirdre (Michelle Wafford) adores the Bard and might finally give in romantically if Andrew takes the role. His agent, Lillian (Wendy Brown), also sees this as a good decision. On the other hand, we will soon meet his friend Gary (Anthony Nathan), a TV director and smarmy denizen of Hollywood who sees the fading TV star in over his head, getting little to no financial gain from this likely fiasco. Gary arrives with a deal for a style-over-substance show that is assured to make them both rich, if Andrew abandons the Shakespeare gig.

Meanwhile, New York Real Estate broker Felicia (Jean Arnold) has set Andrew up in an eccentrically-decorated apartment that was once home to legendary actor John Barrymore – Drew’s grandfather, and, more importantly, regarded as the greatest Hamlet of his era. Felicia also fancies herself a psychic medium, so she, Andrew, Deirdre, and Lillian (who once knew the actor), attempt to reach out to Barrymore’s spirit.

Unable to resist an opportunity to perform, John (Kevin Caraher) does appear, and won’t leave until Andrew Rally is Hamlet (ghost rules, otherwise he’s stuck).

That’s the plot, but more important is the hilarious journey Andrew takes in getting over his “hate” of Hamlet, feeling compelled to prove to everyone – especially himself – that as an entertainer he is more than just “an anytime snack” (see the show, you’ll get it). Caraher plays Barrymore as a manic mentor, while still carrying echoes of the regrets and alcoholism of his mortal years (the real actor did have an interesting biography). He and Weimer engage in some great physical comedy, especially when the swords come out.

Wafford’s Deirdre could be pictured next to “giddy” in the dictionary, a blend of (literally) virginal innocence and fangirl ebullience. Brown plays her aging German agent as both sensible and wistful, the latter especially when she has her long-awaited second encounter with the spirited stage star. Nathan does broad comedy as naturally as breathing and embodies happy-go-lucky about as heartily as anyone short of an actual cartoon. It’s telling that Gary lives so much in the alternate reality of the West Coast that he easily sees Barrymore without an inkling that the event is supernatural.

A roaring good time in a sly homage to the power of Shakespeare and the character of those who take it on, you’ll love “I Hate Hamlet.” Performances are Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 14-17, at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis, on the southwest corner of Butler University campus. For info and tickets, see southbanktheatre.org.

Enter the shadowy world of ‘M’

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By John Lyle Belden

Never a company to shy away from dark material, Catalyst Repertory presents “M,” a new play based on an old movie, written and directed by Tristan Ross. The original, by legendary German film pioneer Fritz Lang in 1931, was a predecessor to the genre of film noir. Being Lang’s first picture with sound, he innovated with it in ways that still inspire today’s filmmakers.

Ross captures the feeling of entrapment in a black-and-white world with the audience on three sides of the black-box Everwise Stage (formerly Indy Eleven) surrounded by heavy dark curtains. Entering and exiting this space feels like a labyrinth. Actors’ costumes are in blacks, greys and browns, with among a spare few props bright red balloons for effective contrast.

Voices literally surround us with some lines delivered by obscured actors behind the curtains or prerecorded. Little girls are puppets (provided by Beverly Roche) with vague innocent faces, ethereally voiced offstage by Kristin Watson Heintz. Technical director Arden Tiede and lighting designer Tim Dick assist with the noir effects, including fog and image projections, with graphic assistance by Catalyst founder Casey Ross.

As in the original story, by Lang with Thea von Harbou, there is a serial killer, known as “the Midnight Man,” attacking young girls. Ten have been brutally murdered when Mrs. Beckmann (Maria Meschi) discovers her Elsie is missing. Among the last to encounter the child alive was a friendly blind man (Craig Kemp) who we discover is a homeless former lawyer who manages through barter to get balloons to sell to neighborhood children. Police Chief Lohman (James Mannan) and Detective Grodin (Kirk Fields) find an unseeing “witness” only the beginning of their frustrations, as practically no clues are found and suspect leads go nowhere.

Meanwhile, the criminal community has grown frustrated with massively increased police activity and a fearful population cutting deeply into their “business.” Plus, even hardened criminals have no patience with child murder. Thus, one of their leaders, Breaker (Tristan Ross) leads an underworld search for the Midnight Man, with the help of thief Frank (Jeff Stratfer) and club/brothel owner Sharp (Austin Hookfin), with the Balloon Vendor working the “invisible” street people.

Another genre-inspiring aspect of this story is that the audience sees the perpetrator early on, one of the early plots about a killer’s descending madness and the other characters’ struggle to find and stop him. Normal-looking John Beckert (J. Charles Weimer) is locked in a cycle of obsession and predation. He acts quickly once a random potential victim is sighted, this being both a sign of dangerous impulsivity and part of what makes him impossible to predict.

However, eventually good detective work, and a vital clue realized by the balloon man, lead cops and crooks each to close in on Beckert. Which will get to him first, and what will “justice” be when they do?

The story is appropriately taut, tense and not as predictable as you would think, even as events feel inevitable. The acting is outstanding. Meschi, a mother herself, compellingly communicates the horror and desperation of Beckmann’s grief and need for answers and resolution. Kemp easily portrays his blindness without any broad gestures, his eyes looking nowhere as he “sees” with his hearing and speaks with clear voice to ensure understanding. Fields seems to toy with stereotype, at first an ineffective cop but proving his worth as Grodin realizes the right details to give his attention. Mannan gives us the Chief who is both police and bureaucrat, under frustrating pressure on both sides. Our underworld trio effectively play close to type – Stratfer’s Frank jittery nervous, Hookfin’s Sharp ever suave, and Ross’s Breaker deeply intimidating. (In the movie, the latter’s character is a safecracker, here he seems to be an enforcer; either way, his leather gloves are apropos.)

For his part, Weimer gives us an emotionally driven performance that gives insight into Beckert’s disordered mind and personal horror. This “monster” is given neither justification nor supernatural menace; as is noted during the search, he is “a man, like one of us.”

Consider the title to stand for Midnight Man, or “Murderer” as Lang did, or even the Roman numeral as the killer states “there will be a thousand more” if he is not caught. Regardless, find Catalyst’s “M,” with performances through July 7 at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at indyfringe.org.