seance

Athenaeum, NoExit present mysterious ‘Gathering’

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By John Lyle Belden

The Athenaeum in downtown Indianapolis has long been reputed to house restless spirits.

At “The Gathering,” step inside and find yourself in 1919, right after the first World War, during a pandemic known as the Spanish Flu, and at the dawn of Prohibition. Also on people’s minds and hearts were the practice and promise of Spiritualism, a faith path leading many to seek communication with the dead.

This theatrical experience is presented by NoExit Performance, resuming the local company’s practice of site-specific productions.

Famed medium Madame Josephine (Callie Burk-Hartz) has returned to Indianapolis, her hometown, to give her final public séances at the former Deutche Haus. We in the audience are that public. While waiting for her show to begin, we happen to witness some interesting goings-on.

William (Bill Wilkinson), a former skeptic turned Prognosticator, shows us one of his mentalist tricks. Max (Jaddy Ciucci), a Metaphysician, arrives with a curious electric device she wishes to show Mme. Josephine. This sparks the curiosity of Edith (Kallen Ruston), a local reporter.  

Meanwhile, young widow Lorraine (Georgeanna Smith Wade) seeks a private audience with the medium, which the show’s producer Victor (Lukas Felix Schooler) says is not possible without a substantial additional fee. The distraught woman persists, as she needs to contact the spirit of her recently-lost daughter – providing it doesn’t also arouse the shade of her late husband.

We also encounter Nellie (Beverly Roche), a “scientific” Palmist, as well as a fellow Spectator (Audrey Stonerock) about whom we learn something we weren’t meant to know.

The audience moves through this production as the scenes play out in several rooms. This also takes us up backstage stairs not usually open to the public (those with mobility issues are taken to the similarly decorated elevator).

Some moments involve movement to evoke the hidden turmoil of these characters, with all their secret feelings and motivations. The first was surprising, but they shouldn’t be for those familiar with NoExit, juxtaposed with the more realistic portrayals of dialogue.

We join the séance itself on the historic stage of the Athenaeum. A rare view of its workings aids the feeling of being in a world on the haunted edge of comfortable reality.

Performances are first-rate, skillfully maintaining the atmosphere so that suspense is imperceptible until the foreboding mood is all around us like an ethereal fog. Smith Wade draws on our empathy while hinting at the darkness that follows her. Schooler keeps Victor equal parts protective and manipulative, never allowing us to trust even as we feel compelled to follow. Burk-Hartz perfectly presents tired and troubled Madame Josephine, up to now a polished professional, yet sensing in this night something too real for mere entertainment.

The subplot building with Ciucci and Ruston’s characters is pleasantly intriguing, as well as the presence of Wilkinson and Roche’s practitioners of occult arts who, though wise to the tricks, are still drawn into the growing sense of mystery.

My one criticism, which could be seen as a compliment – being left wanting to see more. It felt like another scene or two could have deepened the narrative, giving more context and purpose for all the characters, aside from one person’s grave secret mostly revealed at the evening’s climax.

Still, there is plenty here to see and feel. And some things are necessarily left in shadow for us to ponder, just as it should be for this chilling experience.

Performances start in the lobby of the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St., at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-25. For information and tickets, visit AthenaeumIndy.org. Get NoExit info on their Facebook page.

Magician presents spirited old-style gathering

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By John Lyle Belden

At the same time as the modern magic show evolved throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, a movement arose involving communication with the deceased, known as Spiritualism. Turns out, the two had a lot in common.

Lexington, Ky., magician John Shore presents “The Talking Dead: Experiences from the Victorian Séance,” a one-hour exploration of the history and methods of Spiritualist mediums. After a successful debut at The Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, and some revisions, this carefully-researched performance had a one night only showing recently at the IndyFringe Basile Theatre in Indianapolis, produced by Taylor Martin.

Shore decries the tense horror atmosphere of seances as portrayed by Hollywood, noting that especially from the 1840s to the 1920s, they had an overall relaxed atmosphere, an evening’s entertainment for middle and upper classes. Seating is mainly on stage, with some especially close to a pair of small tables, recreating the necessary intimate feel. Light is sometimes by a single candle.

We learn about historical figures including the Fox Sisters, who started the craze with rapping at walls and tables; D.D. Home, whose spirit power made furniture move; Dr. Henry Slade, who advanced from yes-or-no knocks or guesses at cards to mysterious messages on schoolhouse slates; and Margery the Medium, whose feats defied explanation throughout her career. We also hear about notables such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed absolutely everything presented to him, and legendary magician/escapologist Harry Houdini, who absolutely did not.

Shore delivers more than a lecture. The table moves and the cards reveal, while mysterious raps surround us, a simple bell rings itself, and a tambourine clatters – revealing that our séance has its own unseen spirit guide present.  (We even get “her” name.)

This splendid presentation gives us illusions in which the knowledgeable might suspect solutions, but with an air of mystery that keeps that part of you that wants to believe tuned in. As Spiritualism evolved into a bona fide religion, Shore notes that the mystery of faith plays an important role in the experience.

“Exposing it (as Houdini and his contemporaries did) really became beside the point,” Shore said after the show. As it was said in that era, neither for the skeptic nor the believer would anything fully change their minds.

As in a true séance of yesteryear, there is a fair amount of audience involvement. In fact, all who attend are asked to each write down a question for the spirits. A number of these will be selected – and answered.

Martin, a longtime Fringe veteran and master of the Indy Magic performance series, is working with Shore to bring “The Talking Dead” to this summer’s IndyFringe Festival. We are hoping they make it onto the schedule, as this enlightening and entertaining show will likely be a big hit. However, as much of the audience in the recent performance were members and friends of the local magic community, it will be interesting to see how more mundane folks handle the mysterious goings-on.