Katie Endres

4th Wall: The depths of ‘Heights’

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By John Lyle Belden

November’s chill extends the desolate feeling of the Halloween season, a perfect time to indulge in the haunting story of “Wuthering Heights,” presented by 4th Wall Players in Irvington.

Founding member Alan Keith has adapted Emily Brontë’s gothic novel by taking a keen scalpel to the complex story of life and death on the Yorkshire moors of northern England in the late 1700s. His focus is on the dysfunctional, tragic relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and the orphan Heathcliff, with sufficient other adult characters to tell the story.

Katie Endres plays housekeeper Nelly Dean, whose role as narrator in the novel is reflected in her being a mainstay throughout the play, witness to all while unable to affect the course of events. Her compassion helps us to care for the damaged souls she serves.

We open with a series of scenes to establish the upbringing of siblings Catherine (Sarah Powell) and Hindley (Albert F. Lahrman III), along with Heathcliff (Alec Cole), whom Mr. Earnshaw (Stephen Taylor) found in Liverpool and raises with his children. From the start Catherine and Heathcliff become devoted to one another, enraging Hindley, who, upon returning from university to take over Wuthering Heights after their father’s death, banishes Heathcliff to the servant’s quarters. Hindley and his wife Francine (Isabel Moore) are continually abusive, which – on top of a boyhood humiliation at the hands of Hindley and neighbor Edgar Linton (Luke Proctor) – fuels Heathcliff’s simmering desire for revenge.

As for Catherine, she is to become Edgar’s bride. Overhearing her telling Nelly she must accept the proposal, Heathcliff sees this as betrayal and leaves. He returns, three years later, as a gentleman – but his intentions are not gentle as he seduces and marries Edgar’s sister Isabella (Ellie Hooven).   

Emotions and unresolved angst are heavy as the mist upon the moors, where ghosts will walk when this story is done.  Note this drama also contains violence, abuse, and suicide.

The cast portray a whole catalogue of psychological issues. Cole gives a poignant portrayal of a person so focused on vengeance he cannot accept the successes of his life, instead sacrificing them as tools towards his dark vision of justice. His blend of wronged hero and conspiring villain evokes both pity and fear. As for perpetually immature Catherine, Powell gives us the girl who wants both the adventure of Heathcliff and reliability of Edgar, without fully committing to either. Playing with others’ emotions wears on her own, critically endangering her health.

Hooven is exceptional as a woman caught in the middle of these dark doings, bearing up as best she can, her only redemption being in survival.

As for men who could have been so much better people, Lahrman gives us a Hindley so used to having to demand respect, he squanders his inherited moral high ground with his anger and addictive vices.  Meanwhile, Proctor’s Edgar is the man who would be rather dashing and happy in an Austen novel – alas, this is Brontë, and here his airs come off as spineless, doomed to find only misery.

An excellent edit of a classic story, “Wuthering Heights” has three more performances, Friday through Sunday, Nov. 14-16, at The Backlot Theatre (formerly Stage Door), 5635 Bonna Ave., Indianapolis. Information and tickets at 4thwallplayers.org.

CCP: On tonight’s episode of ‘I Loathe Darcy…’

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By John Lyle Belden

The Jane Austen novel “Pride and Prejudice” has become so familiar to those who have enjoyed it on page and screen that someone once inserted zombies into the story. What we’ll get here, though, is much more alive. Carmel Community Players presents a recent adaptation by Kate Hamill that plays into the expectations of our romcom and sitcom-fueled culture.

Directed by Samantha Kelly, the essence of the story, set in genteel 19th-century England, is intact: the relatively poor Bennet family worry that their four daughters will not be able to marry above their station, pinning their hopes on a few local bachelors with wealth or potential.

Let’s meet our bachelorettes: Beautiful Jane (Caitlin Karas), the eldest, would love to marry wealthy Charles Bingley (Grayson Wieneke), who is interested but reluctant to pop the question. Lizzie (Katie Endres) is smart, headstrong and declares she “shall never marry.” Quirky Mary (Elizabeth Enderle) everyone considers disturbingly homely (apparently even Death won’t touch her, only giving her gaunt features and a persistent cough). Spritely Grace (Lydia Miller), the youngest, is hyper and impulsive. Also on hand is equally destitute friend Charlotte Lucas (Desiree Black), who seems to kindly accept her role as a wallflower.

Mrs. Bennet (Amanda Falcone) is frantic, to say the least, constantly extolling the virtues of her marriageable daughters to anyone who’ll listen. Meanwhile, Mr. Bennet (Matthew Socey) just wants to be left alone to read his newspaper or otherwise let things play out as they will.

At social events we meet Mr. Bingley’s posh sister Caroline (Amalia Howard), as well as the nervous Fitzwilliam Darcy (Alec Cole), who has a legendarily awkward meet-cute with Lizzie. We also encounter George Wickham (Drake Smith), ambitious but “only a Lieutenant” in the Royal Army; rich but rather creepy cousin Mr. Collins (Grant Bowen); and the fiercely upper-class Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Elizabeth Ruddell).

In Hamill’s snappy script, what we get is a sort of cross between “Fiddler on the Roof” (sans music) and “Taming of the Shrew” as though presented by the Hallmark Channel – and it works delightfully. Farcical elements entertain: Falcone’s over-the-top performance making it understandable that neighbors start to avoid her; Bowen leering in such a way that we feel Lizzie’s dread at possibly marrying Collins; the various comical jump-scares around Mary, so much that I started to feel bad for her (or at least Enderle).

It all melds well with the romantic drama aspects, such as Lizzie’s grudgingly growing appreciation of Mr. Darcy, and Lydia discovering that to leap before one looks can bring on consequences. Endres and Cole acquit themselves well as more true-to-book versions of the characters.

Nicely paced while funny and charming, indulge in “Pride and Prejudice” Thursday through Sunday (two performances Saturday) at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, Carmel. Get tickets at carmelplayers.org or thecat.biz.

Bard Fest ‘Macbeth’ simply bold

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By John Lyle Belden

In what has been announced to be its final season, Indy Bard Fest is going out strong. Appropriate to October, we get the spooky, cursed tragedy of “Macbeth,” directed by Christine Gordon.

On the main stage of the IF Theatre (a recent rebranding of the IndyFringe venue, reflecting a mission beyond its annual festival), there are just a couple of items – a garden fountain, a chair – to suggest a stage “set,” whisked in and out from behind the back curtain as needed. The Weird Sisters’ garb suggests a Goth fantasia as we see with today’s perspective the liberties William Shakespeare took with the story of the Scottish nobleman and king who ruled roughly 1,000 years ago. What mattered to the Bard, and to this production, is purely the play’s themes and atmosphere.

The Witches, presented gleefully by Ariel Laukins, Ryan James Moskalick, and Kat Murphy, set the tone and haunt throughout as the actors fill in various supporting roles. They are later joined by the goddess Hecate – Fire Fly of Indy Drag Theatre with divine voice by Wilhelmena Dreyer – who lurks in the previous scene, adding to the suggestion of her of power in this world.

Doug Powers is commanding as the title character, with Laura Gellin as even more ambitious Lady Macbeth. A cursory reading of the play would have you think these two seem to accelerate from “zero to murder” rather quickly; Powers and Gellin’s performances hint at a long-simmering desire to possess so much more than they already have. When a prediction of his rise comes true, it sparks the flame of ambition that will consume them both.

The cast also includes Guy Grubbs as doomed King Duncan, with Katie Endres as his son Malcolm. Tanner Bruson is Macbeth’s ill-fated companion Banquo, and Abby Morris plays his son Fleance, and others. Jason Creighton lends his strong voice and physique effectively to Macduff, Macbeth’s nemesis.

This simple presentation hones the focus down to the dangers of unfettered ambition, the consequences of rash acts (and how they compound as one follows another), and a cautionary lesson that there’s more than one way to read the signs before us.

Remaining performances of “Macbeth” are Friday through Sunday, Oct. 18-20, at 719 E. St. Clair, Indianapolis. Get tickets at indyfringe.org.

Waves of laughter at Cryptid’s ‘Beach Party’

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By John Lyle Belden

Let’s take a beachin’ trip back to 1962, as weirdly envisioned in 1987, then done for film in 2000 with actors you may know but the same dude doing the script, for further irreverent treatment by Indy’s Cryptid Entertainment today in “Psycho Beach Party,” directed by Kevin Holladay.

Did you know that Oscar-winning actress Sally Field famously played both beach-chick Gidget and, in a different film, the multiple-personality sufferer Sybil? Not sure why I brought that up…

Anyway, the Off-Broadway hit by Charles Busch sends up the ‘60s Beach films with inspiration from Hitchcock-style horror. Note to the triggered, especially as it is Mental Health Awareness Month, but this also hearkens back to not-that-long-ago when being a total whacko was fair game for comedy. This doesn’t so much mock Dissociative Identity Disorder (which is real, but rare, and caused by deep trauma) so much as the way such conditions were exaggerated for dramatic and comic effect.

In our mythical Malibu, The Great Kanaka (Thomas Sebald) rules the waves, accompanied by college dropout – Psych, of course – Starcat (Suraj Choudhary). Chicklet (Ellie Graves) a girl with small boobs and big dreams, provided she can stay free of her overbearing mother (Andrea Haskett), wants to learn to surf, even if it is a man’s world. Bikini hottie Marvel Ann (Hannah Embree) has her eyes on one of those men, and Chicklet’s bestie Berdine (Ezri Braid-Grizell) has her mind occupied by the great (non-surfing) philosophers. Other surfer dudes are Provoloney (Case Jacobus), Yo-yo (Katie Endres), and Nicky (Kelly Haas).

An incognito movie star, Bettina Barnes (Jessica Hawkins), shows up hoping to get away from the world of schlock films. Meanwhile, Kanaka accidentally discovers that sometimes Chicklet really isn’t herself – and alter ego Ann Bowman (!) kinda turns him on.

Also, there have been bizarre shaving attacks.

Considering that Busch played Chicklet in the original New York production, don’t be surprised that things here get a bit gender-fluid and queer. It just adds to the fun.

The cast all ride the waves of absurdity for all they’re worth. Graves shows entertaining range and talent, so that she could also move on to more dramatic roles (y’know, like Sally Field did). Sebald looks like Indy’s version of Jason Mamoa with all the same fun energy and cool charisma. Choudhary (who was cool with me saying he looks like if Jesus were drawn correctly) charms as well. Embree is cutely committed to her high-class persona. Hawkins has no problem hanging with these characters, taking to being rightly feted like a queen with her court.

What is the secret of Chicklet’s troubled past? Will Provoloney and Yo-Yo admit their feelings? Can I get an invite to the Luau? (The answer to the last one is no, but they did give me a beach ball.)

See the Cryptids without the time restraints of a Fringe show, Thursday through Sunday (two shows on Saturday), May 16-19, at Fonseca Theatre, 2805 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis. Find Cryptid Entertainment on Facebook for info and tickets or try this link.