When a parent suffers from dementia, the struggle to assist and deal with them can be overwhelming to the family, especially if her only son is the one the task falls to.
In “Dancing in the Mist” by Marcel Nunis, presented by RibbitRePublic at the Musicians Union Hall, Kurt Fitzpatrick plays Mike, who catalogs the challenges faced in becoming the primary caretaker for his mother, Gillie, played by Xan Scott. There are lies that must be told, bargains that must be struck, songs to be sung, various characters to be played and a wealth of sorrow for the both of them. Still, he does what he can to make the best of it for both parties involved.
Since she so often slips into memories of the past, he gets a surprising and tender glimpse into the woman she one was. He finds out much more of her history than he bargained for, including references to the mysterious “Max.” We also get glimpses into Mike’s highly-stressed mind.
Meanwhile, Scott artistically portrays a woman struggling to live with her malady and hold onto every piece of her past and sanity that she can.
This is an expertly crafted drama with gentle humor that can help serve as a guide and warning of how to behave if or when you are faced with this challenge yourself.
For those who have never seen one of the enjoyable offerings that comprise the Indy Magic Monthly shows, “The Best of Indy Magic Monthly” on Theatre on the Square’s second stage will offer you a taste of what you are missing and should make you a regular patron in the future.
IndyFringe regular and IMM founder and host Taylor Martin presents a different lineup of magicians from near and far each show, including illusionists who have toured internationally, played Vegas and The Magic Castle, and appeared on television shows such as “Penn & Teller’s ‘Fool Us.’”
Martin emcees as one of his magical personae, then four other magicians dazzle us with tricks including elaborate props, mentalism and close-up magic. Monday’s show included comedy (making a Triscuit “disappear”) and the exotic (a Hong Kong magician who employed Chinese masks as well as marvelous tricks). But don’t expect to see that lineup again – the remaining performances promise acts just as good, but unique to that particular hour.
There are a lot of laughs and wonder for everyone in the family. Even if you think you know how the tricks are done, seeing them played out in the eyes of a child will make it all seem new and wondrous again. And the variety not only keeps the show fresh, but will make you want to see more than one of them to have a better experience.
For those who can’t make it to this during the Fringe, Indy Magic Monthly showcases some of the best performers locally and around the world the first Tuesday of each month at Theatre on the Square.
Rick Garrett tells us the story of the traumas of his child- and adulthood that drove him to the numbing effects of alcohol for solace in his stand-up/monologue, “Laughing Sober,” at ComedySportz.
Garrett relates his restrictive religious upbringing – “We were Amish with lightbulbs” – and how for him love was predicated on rules he couldn’t master and expectations that didn’t fulfill him.
While his tales are honest and raw, the delicate humor surrounding them prevents the subject matter from getting too somber. Garrett is an excellent storyteller as well as comic, so even when he’s not zinging the punchlines – which he often does – he still holds our attention and earns our sympathy.
This show reminds us that we are all damaged people in some way, and that the only true healing powers in the world are laughter and love, both of which you will feel before the final applause break.
For anyone who has ever worked retail or in any service industry, here is something to help you continue your dreary existence: Casey Ross Productions’ “Hell’s Fourth Ring: The Mall Musical,” playing at the Firefighter’s Union Hall. With spot-on stereotypical characters portraying the soul-sucking life of a petty wage-earner, playwright Ross (penning her first musical), with help from rock musician Davey Pelsue, has created a hilarious tribute to this woeful existence.
Hell’s Gate Mall is a dreary place, where the only thing worse than working there is getting “terminated.” Can even love survive?
The story is silly but very, very funny and the songs are quite well crafted. The actors are up for all of the zaniness encompassed in their roles. They include Pelsue, Logan Moore, Heather Ownes, Adam Tran, Kait Burch (who also did the choreography), Taylor Cox, David Molloy, and the voice of Zoe Molloy. The show was directed by Ross’s partner, “Fedora Dave” Matthews.
While I must admit that Casey is a personal friend of mine, setting my expectations high, I was still blown away by the overall quality of the show. While some of the costumes and dialogue are painfully cheesy, it adds to the charm of the entire package.
I did wish that one or two of the performers possessed stronger singing voices, but I’m hoping that Ross will flesh this out into a full-length show and can better fill the roles.
In all, this show is a riotously good time and one of those unexpected gems that the Fringe can provide.
Based on an 1892 short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” presented by Earlham Theatre Department at the Marrott Center, tells of a woman confined for a “rest cure” in an upstairs room with bars on the windows and apparently a hideous pattern on the walls.
Our subject and narrator is presented by three actresses simultaneously, demonstrating her slowly fracturing mind. She starts to see odd, changing patterns in the wallpaper, eventually becoming sure that a woman is trapped within. At the back of the stage is a yellow wall, with subtle markings within its chaotic pattern that has us in the audience sharing in the growing madness.
The woman’s husband and physician, “John,” is a disembodied voice. This makes him seem at first godlike, but reveals him to be more distant and (despite or due to the state of 19th-century medicine) clueless until it is too late.
This haunting early classic of feminist literature, with elements reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft, clocks in at around 30 minutes, yet is intense enough to be worth your ticket. You could use the extra time to get something to eat before the next show – just, wherever you go, don’t look too closely at the walls.
Vinnie Velour, former Driver to the Stars, tells of his transition to Vinnie Velour, Professional Lounge Singer, in the one-man (and a woman) variety show, “VELOUR,” by Schedule C Productions, at the Marrott Center.
In a performance dedicated to the late great Mel Torme, Velour covers everything from Bryan Adams to Mr. Rogers. And at three points in the narrative, the audience gets to vote on what act he will bring to the stage next – the plate-spinning is very popular, and I personally recommend the sword-swallowing.
This story of love and redemption has just a hint of cheese, but it’s all in good taste. Velour is a true talent.
Before you turn up your non-ruby nose at this “clown show,” do consider that missing this could mean passing up one of the funniest, most entertaining offerings of IndyFringe.
“’Mom?’ A Comedy of Mourners” is presented by Box of Clowns, which is more than a clever name for this trio. As the show opens we are presented with a small table of a stage and a trunk that turns out to contain, within its bottomless void, our three clown siblings. Victoria is kinda smart; Frank is kinda brave; and Mango is… well… unique.
They arrive to honor their deceased mother and scatter her ashes. This may seem a bit morbid for a comedy, but laughter is the perfect medicine for this occasion, and these characters deliver abundantly. Their acrobatic antics have them never leave the platform upon which they stand – except to disappear into and pop out of the box from time to time. Yet with these confines, they even manage a chase scene.
This hilarious hour is definitely a must-see. I’m sure Mom would have approved.
As you enter the Theatre on the Square main stage for “Ca-Ching: A Modern American Religious Drama” by Nomads Collective, the actors are already on stage bantering. Yes, this is one of those truly “Fringe” shows where things get kind of odd.
In between the dance breaks, we get the stories of various characters affected by today’s economic struggles: a minimum-wage worker fixated on and frustrated by how little he makes for his constant labor; a couple faced with the choice of a leaky roof or no home at all, but the man has a talent he doesn’t realize could save them; Father Jobs, an idealistic innovator dismayed at how his world-changing inventions aren’t necessarily changing things for the better; an artist who discovers Jobs’ latest device, but she finds it easier to cash in than create; and Big Spender, who seems to embody the evils of capitalism in a single man. The big guy will get you ahead in life, but you might have to debase yourself.
The presentation is unusual – maybe not for everyone – but give it a chance. In the hours afterward, as I considered what I had seen, the message and meanings started coming through. And as another Fringer told me, if the show makes you think, isn’t that what this festival is about?
Bart Simpson of the 22nd century (portrayed by Ryan O’Shea) in “Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play” at Indy’s Phoenix Theatre. — Phoenix Theatre photo
By John Lyle Belden
Throughout mankind’s history, we have been storytellers. Imagine how it will be for us, saturated in pop culture as we are, if the “stories” of television and movies suddenly stop.
In the near future, civilization has collapsed. There are rumors of plagues, radiation zones and endless fires. Survivors keep lists of loved ones and ask each stranger they meet about them. But, above all, the most important thing that must be known is: What was it that Sideshow Bob said to Bart Simpson in that “Cape Fear”-inspired episode?
Welcome to the brave new world of “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,” on stage through Sunday at the Phoenix Theatre in downtown Indianapolis.
In a dark forest shortly after an unnamed apocalypse, a band of survivors, played by Eryn Bowser, Paeton Chavis, Paul Collier Hansen, Jen Johansen and Eric J. Olson keep their minds occupied by recounting a favorite “Simpsons” episode. A new stranger, played by Rob Johansen, suddenly joins them. Suspicions fade as he remembers the scenes and dialogue that the others forgot. A bond forms.
Years later, Ryan O’Shea joins the group as they are one of many bands of actors roaming the land, keeping culture alive via stories of fabled Springfield. Human creativity mixes into this scene, adding and modifying lines of the scripts. In the second act, we jump ahead a couple of generations to see what this new storytelling tradition has evolved into.
The play, by Anne Washburn, is an entertaining commentary on our media-addicted culture. It’s interesting to see how humanity comes to value something so inspired by and a parody of other works while discarding and forgetting those things that came before, the things that gave the animated comedies their substance. Then, to see what today’s reruns become after so many hands have meddled in their portrayal makes one wonder what Shakespeare would think of all the liberties taken with his works today.
This professional cast handles this work expertly, from the fear, confusion and search for connection in the first act to the avant-garde absurdity of the bizarre “Mr. Burns” episode in the second. You do not even need to be familiar with “The Simpsons” (or “Cape Fear” or Gilbert and Sullivan) to follow and enjoy this play, especially considering the end product is likely unlike anything in Simpsons-creator Matt Groening’s wildest dreams.
Find the Phoenix at 749 Park Ave. (corner of Park and St. Clair near Mass. Ave.) in downtown Indy. Call 317-635-7529 or see www.phoenixtheatre.org.
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Also published in the Aug. 6 edition of the Greenfield Daily Reporter.
It’s the day after GenCon. I’m sitting in my living room surrounded by about 25 new games. We only paid for a few of them, and a couple at wholesale or discount. At least two of these are ones you literally cannot buy yet – they will launch or Kickstart in month or two.
Such is the life of a game reviewer.
Yes, Wendy and I will keep up the theatre side of things, too. Next week is IndyFringe and we plan on going all-out on that. Maybe finally get the podcast online? We’ll definitely shoot some short videos, at least.
But some nice folks with shoestring budgets trusted us with their playthings. So we will play. Watch in the coming weeks between now and Christmas for our impressions of these new diversions. We did some demos at the convention, and this batch looks like a lot of fun. And if you see us around town, we might ask you to play, too.
And to game companies checking out this site, wondering, “Are John and Wendy legit?” Yes, we are. I’m not writing for a paper serving a few thousand souls any more (well, occasionally), but I’ve got a forum here with unlimited viewer potential, where I don’t have an editor limiting me to a small space on a weekly A&E page. So, especially when you see your product here, help spread the word. We’ll keep playing.
Plays with John & Wendy 