play

Exploring stories with Westfield’s ‘Geezers’

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By John Lyle Belden

As we age, the mind still spinning in a body that’s not doing as well, we develop our eccentricities. In other words, we become “Geezers.” That’s the name of the heartwarming comedy by Tommy Lee Johnston, now on stage with Main Street Productions in Westfield, directed by Lori Raffel.

Gina (Brenna Whitaker) has her hands full with the residents of Maple Leaf Retirement Community. Ray (Duane Leatherman) naps all day in the comfy chair with his favorite pillow but doesn’t miss any conversation around him. Likewise, Emily (Wendy Brown) seems a tad out of it, watching TV for the commercials whose jingles she sings along with, yet she pops into lucidity at random yet appropriate times. Neil (Chris Otterman) is both a curmudgeon and a prankster. Then there’s Kate (Jen Otterman), a former actor whose constant flirting went too far with a now-fired orderly.

Into this milieu, enter Jack (Adrian Blackwell), a twenty-something who had spent most of his life caring for his deaf mother, a former worker at Maple Leaf, and with her passed on, is given the chance to take her job assisting Gina. He has his own issues, with his circumstances having given him or enhanced traits that resemble the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum – especially communication issues and anxiety. His way of managing his world is to write. He is good, though has trouble coming up with original ideas. At Kate and Neil’s urging, Jack, reluctantly at first, takes on a project of writing stories from the residents’ lives.

We also meet Jenny (Debbie Underwood), who comes to visit Emily but fears she has missed her chance to make their long-overdue reconnection.

Jack takes in the stories by listening and visualizing them – thus we see younger versions of Kate (Alyssa Lay) who almost got a part in one of the worst B-movies of all time (and still regrets it); Neil (David Shaul), an Air Force logistics specialist, meaning he didn’t fly but had to drive through the hell of Vietnam; and Ray (Mike Sosnowski), who was faced with a heart-rending choice.

“The funny thing about the truth,” the elder Ray says, “it holds a high standard.”

We eventually get everyone’s stories, including Gina’s, and why she cries at the end of every shift. Whitaker gives a solid performance as a caretaker with a firm yet soft touch, seeing the residents practically as family – a balm for her own issues that she reveals to Jack. For his part, Blackwell handles his tricky, complex part well, ensuring that we laugh along with, not at, his difficulties.

When folks of a certain age feel free to say practically anything – and do – that generates plenty of laughs, and these “Geezers” don’t hold back. In a play that touches on a wide range of emotions, there is more than sufficient comedy relief.

Still, I must add a “trigger warning” for elements of self-harm, gun violence, and suicide.

Visiting hours are almost up. “Geezers” has four more performances, Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 13-16, at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St. Get info and tickets at westfieldplayhouse.org.

Poolside play with deep issues

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By John Lyle Belden

“Here is a man…”

In the opening scene of “Red Speedo,” a new drama by Lucas Hnath presented by American Lives Theatre, Peter (Alex Oberheide) is extolling the virtues of his brother Roy (Cody Miley), an Olympic-level competitive swimmer to his Coach (Drew Vidal). Peter, who is also a lawyer, has endeavored in addition to represent Roy as his agent – including working out an endorsement deal with Speedo, the famous global swimwear brand.

Our star athlete who (in this narrative) out-swam Michael Phelps in a club event and made headlines by taking a year on a “spiritual journey” to the desert, is overjoyed at his success while anxious about the Olympic trials that weekend. One moment he doubts, the next he explains the sea-serpent tattoo on his back leaves no doubt which swimmer people are watching. He also wants part of the design’s tail that would be under the suit etched across the leg of his special-edition red Speedo.

However, there is an issue: Performance-enhancing substances have been found in the Club locker room. While a fellow swimmer is implicated, Peter knows that suspicion could fall on everyone, Roy in particular.

Events are further complicated with visits by Roy’s ex-girlfriend Lydia (Paige Elsse), who lost her license as a sports therapist for an unrelated drug-misuse case – an event when Roy and especially Peter were not helpful.

“I wanna be a real person,” Roy laments at one point. But that is not to be. He is a swimming machine with no other skills and an education hindered by spending every spare moment at the pool, putting it all on the line with the singular goal of Olympic medals and the marketing riches that follow. A dancer with Dance Kaleidoscope, Miley does well as an actor in a role requiring a lot of speaking and emoting – his other skillset only displayed by his mostly-visible well-toned body. It’s hard to portray one who may not have quite the wisdom or intellect of those around them without devolving into stereotype, and Miley manages this with minimal “dumb jock” vibes. His odd life carries real consequences, as we witness his struggle for some sort of “normal” he can live with.

Oberheide nimbly portrays a man of noble intentions but slippery morals, swiftly finding his plans on the edge of collapse just as he (and Roy) are about to make it big. Vidal’s Coach is a bit more principled but finds himself tested as well – especially when his own future is on the line. Elisse’s Lydia is the good person who justifies doing bad things for those who she loves, including an interesting twist on two wrongs maybe making a right.

ALT founder Chris Saunders directs, giving us a thought-provoking examination of ethics and human behavior that happens to involve a swimming pool. Speaking of which, a real water-filled pool is set up at the front edge of the Russell Theatre main stage in the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre (set design by Matt Mott). It mostly provides the appropriate setting atmosphere, though does feature in a couple of important moments. As Saunders reassured us, there is no “splash zone” for audience members to be concerned about.

Shout-out as well to artist Phoenix Woods for Roy’s “ink.”

“Red Speedo” runs through Feb. 16 at the Phoenix, 705 N. Illinois St. Get tickets at phoenixtheatre.org, info at americanlivestheatre.org.

IBTC: Feeling trauma and hope through the ‘Bloodline’

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By John Lyle Belden

This is one of four scheduled shows in the Black Solos Fest presented by Indianapolis Black Theatre Company, a program of The District Theatre. Performance information and tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.

My silly mind wants call this “We’ll always have Paris” as this is the name of three generations of men sharing the name of this one-person drama’s creator, Paris Crayton III, but the content is a bit too intense for that – though I suspect Grandpa Paris would grin and salute with his ever-present cocktail at the joke.

This is “Bloodline,” a semi-autobiographical examination of the lives of Paris senior, a glib but proud man who leaves the toil of sharecropping in Mississippi for meaningful labor and starting a family in Missouri; Paris junior, who finds love, hard work and good intentions may not be enough to save a marriage, but might give opportunities to his son; and Paris III, whose life takes him from St. Louis to Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta, and New York – but nearly always in the closet.

With only the aid of a bit of effective sound design, a hat, and a highball glass, Crayton presents distinct characters and smoothy flows from persona to persona, with feelings from charming to determined, to despair, to rage. Others invisible around him are made real by his gestures and conversations we follow as his half of the words reveal all.

The weaving narratives give insight into staying positive in the face of blatant bigotry, of being skilled with one’s hands but unable to heal the heart, of growing up wanting to do right but being made to believe your true self is wrong. It is thus both a personal story and widely relatable to living as Black and being gay in America.

At the root is the original Paris, likely an alcoholic, but a principled stubborn soul who finds true love in an instant and keeps faith he will find it again. The story of his courtship of saintly grandma Ruth, as unlikely as it plays out, was actually true, Crayton says.

Meet three generations of characters with strong yet tested character in a powerful performance on the District Cabaret stage, today (as this is posted) and Sunday, Jan. 25-26.  

Fans of ‘King James’ seek their own success

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By John Lyle Belden

No matter how emotionally aware men get, how comfortable with our feelings, it’s always easiest to bond over things like sports. And when it’s at some of the biggest moments for your city’s team, that can help make what could be a lasting friendship.

That’s a too-simple summation of “King James,” a two-man buddy comedy by Rajiv Joseph on the Janet Allen (upper) Stage at Indiana Repertory Theatre. The setting is Cleveland; the era runs from 2004, as northeast Ohio-native Lebron James shows great promise with the Cavaliers, to 2016, when that promise is fulfilled.

But for us that man is just an image on an unseen screen. Our focus is on two lifelong Cavaliers fans: Matt (Quinn M. Johnson), a man who grew up seated by his father at nearly every home game; and Shawn (Enoch King), who could only follow on radio and TV, promising his adult self to be in the arena when the long-elusive NBA title finally came. In James’ rookie season, the two are at a crossroads. Matt’s father can no longer attend the games and he – a struggling entrepreneur – needs money, so he puts their Cavs season tickets up for sale. Shawn is eager to buy, having made some money selling his writing, but not for what Matt’s asking. In the course of negotiations, the two end up striking a deal that becomes a friendship.

However, 2010 comes, and with it “The Decision,” an ESPN program during which James announces he’s “taking his talents” to Miami. Needless to say, Matt and Shawn don’t take this well, but the star player isn’t the only one with an important life and career decision.

We also look in on these men in 2014, when James returns to Cleveland, and finally when the Cavaliers win it all. The deep jump-shot arc of a story runs from Matt’s struggling wine bar to his family’s upholstery and knick-knack shop, as his and Shawn’s fortunes rise and fall.

“That’s what’s wrong with America,” Matt declares at anything he doesn’t like. But his is a very American story of seeking to prosper in a Midwest city full of opportunity and uncertainty. Johnson plays him with a cocky confident façade, a fairly noble person beneath, and a lot of nervous energy in between. King, in a style reminiscent of a young Cedric the Entertainer, makes Shawn good humored and easygoing while maintaining a quiet integrity.

Jamil Jude, notable for work across the country, is director. Czerton Lim created an imaginative set with much of it changing between the first and second acts. Miriam Hyfler is stage manager.

Another star of the show is Armand, the taxidermy armadillo, on loan from Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre where he was in the play’s 2022 world premiere.

Not just a play about basketball, “King James” is about fans whose ability to love a game gives them a means to feel for each other. Performances run through Feb. 9 at 140 W. Washington St., downtown Indianapolis. Tickets and info at irtlive.com.

Exploring the degree we ‘Flex’ to fulfill dreams

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By John Lyle Belden

I am in a unique position to review the play “Flex” by Candrice Jones, presented by Summit Performance Indianapolis at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre. At the time and place of this fictional drama – late 1990s in rural southeastern Arkansas – I was a small-town reporter covering sports in that region. I also grew up in a tiny town where basketball was practically the only school sport, and to have a player noticed at all by college scouts was a miracle.

Starra Jones (Shelby Marie Edwards) is the star point guard of the Plano, Ark., (pronounced “Plain Ol’ Arkansas”) High School Lady Train. The daughter of a promising woman baller from pre-WNBA days, she practices on a packed-dirt court by her home. Fellow senior teammates are Sidney Brown (Maggie Kryszyn), who recently moved from California, bringing with her attention from Division-1 scouts; Cherise Howard (Marissa Emerson), a devout newly-minted youth minister who wants baptism to wash away her feelings for…; Donna Cunningham (Enjoli Desiree), who will use an academic scholarship to escape small-town life; and April Jenkins (Kelli Thomas), whose unplanned pregnancy will likely get her benched by no-nonsense Coach Pace (Alicia K. Sims) just as the Train are State Tournament bound.

Starra was brought up in a take-charge ethos as powerful as her talent, calling the shots in a traditional 1-3-1 offense. Coach finally feels, with two star players in a tightly knit squad, she can run the “Flex” offense she has developed for years. This calls for frequent passing to overwhelm opponents – a lot more sharing than Starra is used to, on top of seeing Sidney’s stats and status rise. Meanwhile, April has a plan to get back on the court, involving a secret road trip across the Mississippi River. Desperate measures are being taken, putting these girls’ futures and perhaps even their souls at risk.

Directed by A.J. Baldwin, the play excellently portrays both the closeness of small-town life, developing tight bonds and pride, and the desperate urges of youth to kick the dirt off your feet for good, getting out to find bigger opportunities far away from Plano. These five mesh as a team and both fight and support one another like sisters. Edwards, our principal narrator, gets much of the focus (like her character) but this squad all give brilliant performances, bringing out their dreams, struggles, and pain for us all to share – making triumph all the more sweet.

Sims mainly plays the mentor but adds layers as Coach Pace also finds she, too, has lessons to learn. The title comes to mean more than a basketball strategy, as all figure out when in life one should – and shouldn’t – be flexible.

I was also impressed that this story was not critical of the role of evangelical Christianity in the girls’ lives, letting it be a source of comfort and even healing in Charise’s unsure yet faithful hands.

SMALL SPOILER: I did have one concern about the script, in that a stumble in the tournament, while essential to the plot, did not eliminate them from the Finals. Please allow some dramatic license here.

Inventive set design by Maggie Jackson puts a basketball court flowing into a rural highway at the center of the black box Basile Stage, with seating on both sides giving a good close view to all. Stage managers are Becky Roeber and Chandra Lynch, who also appear as referees.

With a real hoop at regulation height, the most impressive aspect was how well-practiced the actors were, as there are a number of moments in which shots had to be made. At our performance, every swoosh was right on cue.

Experience small-town hoop dreams with “Flex,” through Feb. 2 at 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

In new drama, girls seek meaning in naive ‘game’

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By Wendy Carson

Growing up is hard. Add to this living in a small town with only an abusive single parent, and an overactive imagination. Such is the situation of Rae and Molly, two best friends struggling to save each other from their collective traumas in “The JonBenèt Game,” a drama by Tori Keenan-Zelt presented by American Lives Theatre at IF Theatre.

The production is part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, directed by Jenni White who has been in workshop with the playwright to develop it first for Indianapolis (including a reading last year). In the coming months it will premiere with other companies across the United States as part of this new work’s development.

Remembered in flashback by adult Rae (Molly Bellner), the 12-year-old girls fantasize about running away to Chicago (their ideal big city) and Molly (Cass Knowling) becomes obsessed with the 1996 murder of six-year-old JonBenèt Ramsey, “the most famous Cold Case of our time.” Studying a 1999 book on the case like a bible, the two act out various scenarios of how the young girl lived and died. When their at-first harmless play-acting takes a dark turn, they are ripped apart and reviled throughout the town.

Rae is now an adult, trying to redeem herself as a guidance councilor at the Christian school she attended during that period. However, her life is again thrown into chaos by Hazel (Knowling), Molly’s adolescent daughter who has found her mother’s book on the Ramsey case.

Senior counselor Miss Kay (Lynne Perkins), whose decision it was to give Rae this chance at redemption, offers to take Hazel as her own charge, but life intervenes and Rae forms a bond with Hazel, who begins her own obsession, her own turn at the “game.”

At the crux of all this turmoil lies an all-important question: If you had a chance to relive one of the most defining moments of your life, knowing the costs, would you do anything differently?

In compelling performances, Bellner and Knowling present complex troubled characters. Bellner is our bridge between generations, unsure of her way at both ends and striving to understand. Rae, while seeking to help her best friend and that friend’s daughter in any way she can, finds that the physical scars she hid from her mother’s attacks are not nearly as painful as the monster she harbors deep within herself. Knowling portrays girls on the edge, frantically searching – Molly desiring a route to escaping her mentally-abusive mother, Hazel seeking answers in the shadow of her own Mom, perhaps hidden in a well-worn true-crime paperback.

Perkins gives us the adult in the room, ironically proving powerless as the forces of trauma overtake innocence – portrayed further in a moment as JonBenèt’s despairing mother.

Note this work comes with content warnings for suicide and self-harm, as well as the titular killing.

An exploration of grief, trauma, and dealing with coming of age or its denial, “The JonBenèt Game” runs through Jan. 26 at IF, home of IndyFringe, 719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis. For tickets, go to indyfringe.org.

Quirky Christmas at a Montana bar in new comedy

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By John Lyle Belden

It seems the wooded lands on the northern edge of the United States host some eccentric goings-on. A number of films, TV shows, and plays have celebrated this, and now we can add “Snow Fever: A Karaoke Christmas,” a holiday comedy by Robert Caisley presented as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre.

To paraphrase one of its characters, weird stuff happens at Christmas, especially in Montana.

The Phoenix black-box stage has been converted into a bar, the Wet Whistle, which features a drink special that audience members can purchase before the show. It used to belong to Laverna (Jolene Mentink Moffatt) – then known as Taverna Laverna – but now is the property of her son, Brendan (Grant Niezgodski), who runs it with Kenny (Austin Hookfin), an odd young man with “no backstory” and little impulse control.

Local college student Lucy (Sarah Powell) arrives to interview for a job to discover she not only has it but also has arrived late on her first day. Laverna says that can be forgiven (she lives upstairs and acts like she still runs the joint, complete with her free hand with the booze). Kenny comes in with another young woman seeking work, Greta (Akili Ni Mali), a professional Karaoke DJ whom he injured with a frozen snowball to get her attention.

Preparations are under way for the bar’s Christmas Eve party, despite the growing snowstorm outside. The only band Brendan can book is a pair of banjo-playing twins, and he absolutely refuses to have anything as upbeat as the karaoke machine (which Greta is already setting up) in his somber dive bar. Also, Kenny has stolen a tree from the farm of the one man whose name no one is to say – “F. U.” (Brian Tyrell) – thanks in part to what happened at last year’s party.

Also, I should mention, there is Duke. No one knows what Duke is, but he is there.

So, if like me you saw the title “A Karaoke Christmas” and thought this might turn out to be a fluffy holiday music revue, we must remind ourselves: This is the Phoenix F-ing Theatre. Director John Michael Goodson sees this play as a quirky rom-com, but without the Hallmark schmaltz. There is singing in the show, mainly popular karaoke hits. But as love and nostalgia are as much a part of the holidays as the common Christmas trappings, a little “I Will Survive” works just as well as Jingle Bells.

Moffatt revels in her role as mama-bear/queen bee/cougar – the whole menagerie. Laverna can be a bit much, but with a big heart and best intentions. Niezgodski makes a great Phoenix debut, his pragmatic and at times bitter character weathering the chaos. Mali plays Greta as charmingly independent, a roaming soul who takes what life gives her, strange as it may be. Powell also plays Lucy as a roll-with-it sort of character, with more the attitude of someone familiar with the local ways. As for Hookfin, what may seem like just another take on the goof he plays so well in local comedies turns out to have surprising depth; what Kenny appears to lack in intellect he more than makes up for in intuition, as well as irresistible charm.  

Kudos to the cozy set design by Shane Cinal and props by Kristin Renee Boyd.

For a heartwarming holiday play with no heavy message, just good times with a few old pop hits thrown in, come in out of the cold for “Snow Fever,” performances through Dec. 22 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenxtheatre.org.

Westfield comedy ‘greets’ holiday anxiety in unusual way

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By John Lyle Belden

We tend to recall the past as somehow an easier time, but each era has its own anxieties. Many of us remember the 1990s, still it’s easy to forget how the feeling of imminent change at the end of a millennium carried a lot of uncertainty, even before the Y2K panic.

In the holiday comedy, “Greetings!” by Tom Dudzick, presented by Main Street Players of Westfield, they don’t have today’s terms like “autism spectrum” to describe the personal struggles of Mickey Gorski. The words “mentally handicapped” are briefly mentioned, then not said again as it is better to think of the young man as just a happy member of the family whom his parents cherish, accepting any little word he adds to his limited vocabulary as a divine gift.

Mickey (Dylan Acquaviva), with doting mom Emily (Barb Weaver) and sullen but loving dad Phil (James LaMonte), are preparing their Pittsburgh home for a Christmas Eve visit by big brother Andy (Nathaniel Taff), flying in from New York with his girlfriend Randi (Megan Fridenmaker). A couple of things seem to feel off from the start, including frequent issues with the house’s electrical wiring and Emily’s insistence that she recently heard Mickey say – for the first time ever – the word “greetings,” a feat she seems unable to make him repeat.

The stress of caring for this son has become routine, however, the arrival of Andy gives former minor-league pitcher Phil emotional curveballs he can barely handle. The good news is that Andy and Randi are engaged; the distressing part is that she is an atheist Jew and he has reconsidered aspects of the family’s Catholic faith.

As the inevitable argument ensues, Mickey calmly stands up straight and declares, “Greetings!”

And then, he says even more.

Directed by Jeremy Tuterow, this charming and funny family drama gives a meaning-of-Christmas lesson that blends aspects of “All in the Family” and “The Twilight Zone” with how the Shepherds at the Nativity must have felt.

LaMonte gives us in Phil a solid sitcom-esque Dad who lives with unresolved issues and regrets, as well as resistance to anything more that he feels he can’t understand. Weaver’s Emily greets it all with attempts at understanding and unconditional love, though she can be overwhelmed. Taff plays Andy as caught between his wanting to be there for the brother he loves and wanting to run from what he sees as inevitable parental disapproval. Fridenmaker gives Randi a demeanor in which you can almost see her psychological armor, already forged by friction with observant Jewish parents before being brought here to deal with potential new family. She, like the others, will find her own test of faith – or lack thereof.

Acquaviva is simply outstanding as Mickey. He emulates the tics and eccentricities of his autistic character with respect for the condition and smoothly transitions to other aspects of the role with precision delivery that makes its whole fantastic nature work within the world of the play. A high school freshman with already a few other notable roles on his CV, he has us looking forward to where his talents will take him next.

One weekend of performances remain, Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 12-15, before “Greetings!” becomes goodbye. Find it at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St.; find tickets at westfieldplayhouse.org.

IRT’s ‘Carol’ familiar and fresh

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By John Lyle Belden

On the evening I write this, yesterday I saw a wonderful matinee performance of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at Indiana Repertory Theatre.

Earlier today, during a haircut, I told the barber about yesterday’s show. She fondly remembered seeing it years ago as a little girl. After telling her of all the unique features of the IRT production, she said she would look into seeing it this year with some friends. If you, too, haven’t seen it in a while (or at all) perhaps we can persuade you to consider this Indianapolis holiday tradition as well.

Don’t misunderstand; in being a little different, this play is not a parody, or a twist on the story like the movie, “Scrooged.” The Dickens book was adapted decades ago by past IRT artistic director Tom Haas and has been presented annually since the mid-1990s. Its style allows various actors to slip into alternate roles throughout the narrative, which they tell as well as perform, maintaining both the classic language and a good story flow. Only one actor stays the same throughout – as Ebenezer Scrooge – in the well-practiced grasping hands of Rob Johansen. He has played the old miser for a few years now, since switching with Ryan Artzberger, who mainly portrays Jacob Marley’s ghost (“Marley was dead” is vital to the plot, you know) and poor, good-natured Bob Cratchit.

Our spirited Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present are entertainingly presented by Natasia Reinhardt and Sean Blake, respectively. Kenneth L’Ron Hamilton is impressive as both Nephew Fred and Young Scrooge. Talented tykes Henry Kirk or Juniper O’Meara (depending on performance) touch our hearts as Tiny Tim and Child Scrooge. The ensemble also include Kayla Carter, Weezie Chavers, Jennifer Johansen, Sami Ma, and Belle Renee Moore.

Veteran director Cara Hinh makes her IRT debut helming this production. Little changes in staging are noticeable, including clever use of the trapdoors and elevators. This especially adds to the tension of Marley’s visit. But while there are spooky moments, there is far more good-natured humor running through much of the play. The cast visibly enjoy sharing this story with you.

A continued tip of the Victorian top hat to set designer Russell Metheny, whose contributions and annual tweaks are subtle but interesting on a nearly-bare stage covered to overflowing with drifts of the IRT’s artificial snow.  Kudos also to lighting designers Michael Lincoln, Bentley Heydt and Molly Tiede for their atmospheric contributions. Costumes, including a beautifully fresh look for Christmas Past, are by Linda Pisano.

Unique yet familiar, treat yourself to the tradition of IRT’s “A Christmas Carol,” playing through Christmas Eve on the mainstage at 140 W. Washington St., in the bustling heart of downtown Indianapolis. Info and tickets at irtlive.com.

A strong look at fragile relationships

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By John Lyle Belden

Eclipse Productions of Bloomington (no relation to the summer program in Indy) is filling the theatre niche of bold, provocative productions that Indianapolis has with companies such as Theatre Unchained or American Lives Theatre. This approach comes into sharp focus with their present staging of “Closer,” by Patrick Marber.

The drama premiered in London in 1997, the U.S. in 1999, and adapted into a film in 2004, and all versions are notable for their frank, unflinching look at intimate relationships – psychological and physical – among two men and two women who find one another in an unusual tangle of coincidence and dark serendipity. “Everyone loves a big lie,” one of them says, alluding to a major theme of the play.

Though it has nothing to do with this story (and isn’t played), if you couldn’t sit through the Nine Inch Nails hit of the same name (the “I wanna f**k you like an animal” song), don’t bother seeing this. But if you’re open to it, director Kate Weber has created what she calls “a piece of elevated theater masked in a raw and bold human emotion.”

“I never look where I’m going,” says Alice (Shayna Survil), her only excuse for stepping into traffic in front of Dan (Konnor Graber) where she is struck by a vehicle. In the emergency room, their relationship begins. A doctor (Jeremy J. Weber) notices the question-mark shaped scar on Alice’s leg – an injury she refuses to elaborate on, except to say it was from the wreck that killed her parents.

Dan, an obituary writer for a local newspaper, then writes a novel using Alice as inspiration. But upon meeting Anna (Patricia Maureen Francis), the professional photographer taking his book’s headshot, he becomes smitten with her. The pieces of our romantic quadrilateral fall into place in bizarre fashion when Dan draws the doctor, Larry, into his own twisted meet-cute with Anna.

Thus goes a sort of dramatic dance among the foursome, involving manipulation and betrayal as well as striving for authentic relationships and, perhaps, love. While we get very mature content and language, there is stunningly no nudity – even in a cleverly-executed yet erotic strip-club dance – as the focus is on the ravaging of feelings and souls more than their bodies. It all builds to final moments of reckoning, in which the devastating truth of the “crying girl” is revealed at last.

We don’t get a hero or villain here, just people drawn by very human impulses to do well-meaning or hurtful things. This is especially so with Graber’s Dan, a man in his mid-thirties who reveals an immature, needy personality. At times we want to like him, others to hate him. Survil maintains Alice as a sexy cypher, a hothouse flower in her late teens (at the beginning) just wanting to be kept, an American of unknown origin making her own way in London – as inscrutable as the question of her scar. Weber maintains Larry as close to “normal” as we get in this setting, with his own quirks and while fairly dignified, wouldn’t turn down a good shag if it comes his way. Francis (a/k/a Trick Blanchfield to Indy audiences) cultivates Anna’s own complexity, complete with a fortress of feeling at which both men tear at the walls. Her darkest moment is one of the most raw we have seen on stage this year.

Get “Closer” with performances Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 21-24, at Waldron Firebay Theatre (first floor of the Waldron Arts Center), 122 S. Walnut, Bloomington. Get tickets at eclipseproductioncompany.com.