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IndyFringe: IndyProv Presents ‘Our Favorite Fringe Artists’

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

This year, the minds at IndyProv have decided to amp up their comedic prowess and invite performers from various other IndyFringe shows to join them onstage for their improvised comedy performances.

The visiting guests are different for every performance (the cast of “Ship of Dreams” joined them when I attended) so you can return and see a completely unique show each time. IndyProv has also embraced the modern age by having audience members text in their prompts rather than write them on pieces of paper.

The show consists of various improv games (some of which were new to me) which highlight all of the various acting and comedic chops of the cast. One thing I did find, when giving the players a subject, activity, or item, sometimes the most ordinary things can provide more inspired fun.

So, be sure to catch their next show(s). It’s a fun time for (almost) all of the family.*

“IndyProv Presents: Our Favorite Fringe Artists” takes the District Theatre stage 5:30 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2-3.

(*Some adult language; you know how actors get.)

IndyFringe: meSSeS

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

It has been a few years since we have had a clowning master class at IndyFringe, but this year, with “meSSeS,” Janoah Bailin brings us a spectacular one.

First, each audience member is given three scarves with which you will learn the rudimentary skills of juggling during the show and will only get better with practice (he also has a QR code link to his teaching online).

Janoah shows us his juggling prowess using balls, swords, pins, as well as popcorn kernels at one point. His is also a master of not one, but two unicycles of varying heights. He performs some very original gags and spectacular feats of balancing, but it is in the allowing for some of his stunts to go wrong that his humor shines.

I honestly can’t give you more details without spoiling some of the humor but suffice it to say that the show is a family friendly delight. Bring out the kids and see who ends up being the best juggler in the family. Performances are 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 (today as we post this), and next Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (5:15 p.m.), Sept. 3-4, at the Indy Eleven stage in the IndyFringe Theatre.

IndyFringe: Jon Bennett — Fire in the Meth Lab

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

First, I must note, these are true stories, as well as the search for one brother’s connection to the older one he tried so hard to love.

In “Fire in the Meth Lab,” Jon Bennett has come up from his home in Australia to share his stories about his brother’s journey with addiction. We are presented with Tim’s six major addictions throughout his life, varying from pop stars to meth.

While all the above sound like some pretty serious topics to deal with, I can assure you that this is one of the funniest shows I’ve seen at this year’s IndyFringe.

Bennett discusses how he idolized his brother even though Tim took every possible chance he could to bully him. Their main touchstones were fighting, floor ice cream, and watching The Wonder Years. Being the sons of a minister didn’t help their predicament.

What makes this show truly work is Bennett’s storytelling and mining these tales for all of the humor inside them. He genuinely loves his brother, but just can’t get this across to him.

Honestly, this show is so much funnier than it probably should be, given the subject matter. Yet we all have those stories of someone getting somehow intoxicated and craziness ensuing. If nothing else, go see it for the amazing Jason Donovan trivia questions.

Performances are 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 (today, as we post this) as well as 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2 and noon Sunday, Sept. 4, on the Indy Eleven stage at the IndyFringe Theatre.

IndyFringe: Hope – A Theatrical Dance

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson and John Lyle Belden

Gerry Shannon and Melissa Hawkes have come down from Maine to bring us a spectacular piece of theater, “Hope: A Theatrical Dance.” The story is told through the dances of the two performers onstage, as well as in a video projected behind them highlighting memories of Asher (Shannon) with his wife, Hope, and his child (both played by Mackenzie Krueger).

Asher enters the scene clearly depressed and drinking heavily. A pair of hands appear out of the curtain behind him causing him to be manipulated like a puppet. While this may sound like whimsy, the sheer heartbreak he manages to convey keeps the audience rapt with attention. Soon the strings are cut and Asher is once again left to his own devices.

Hope, as a concept, enters as an Angel (Hawkes) and dances around him, forcing him to remember and relive the happier days of his marriage. Just as he is beginning to smile, we are transported to the birth of his daughter and the loss surrounding this event.

Grief once again threatens to overtake him, but he is shown that “hope” lives on.

The entire show is presented without words, the narrative woven through dance, mime and music by various artists including The Chainsmokers, Better Than Ezra, Jason Mraz, and Ed Sheeran.

A note to anyone who saw this show at a previous Fringe: Shannon has restructured it and cut some of the songs, making it a lot less funny than you’d remember.

Wendy’s thoughts: When I first watched the show, the portrayal of Asher’s grief hit me hard. Not only was it perfectly enacted, Shannon is literally an “everyman”. He looks like the kind of guy who’d be more at home at a sports game than dancing on stage. Still, the skill of both he and Hawkes make the show tender and unforgettable.

From the program and with talking to others who have seen it at previous Fringes, this is just a portion of the full show. Knowing that, I really hope that Shannon will return to us in the future and present the entire show. The taste I was provided has me hungry for more.

John’s thoughts: I was really struck by the lack-of-control feeling illustrated at first by Shannon, a true reflection of grief. Krueger (a St. Paul, Minn., based dancer and actor) was a wonderful addition, her sparkling talent making us see and feel the love between Asher and Hope. The innovation of having the distant and departed partner on the screen communicated their separation in an impactful way. At points, he was there with her in the video, but she is never with us here.

Hawkes ties it all together nicely, portraying “hope” in a more tangible way. Her dance reflects the support of true friends, as well as that small voice that tells you to look up from your sadness and see what more the world has to show.

We “Hope” you experience this performance as well, at the IndyFringe Theatre, 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25 (today, as we post this); 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28; 7:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2; and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4. 

IndyFringe: The Princess Strikes Back

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

Victoria Montalbano had an awkward childhood, growing up as a theater nerd with very little romantic experience. Suddenly her life is changed forever when the “Star Wars Trilogy” is rereleased and plays in her local theater. Since there is only one woman in the entire movie, she naturally identifies herself as Princess Leia and falls madly for the “scruffy nerf-herder” of a rogue, Han Solo.

After college she moves to Chicago to become the next Tina Fey. Her exceptional improv skills aside, few acting opportunities provide themselves for her. Still, she remains ever hopeful that her leading man will find her, and she will eventually star in the story of her dreams.

As one might conclude from the show’s full title, “The Princess Strikes Back: One Woman’s Search for the Space Cowboy of her Dreams,” her co-star has yet to be cast. Still, the tales she tells of her personal and professional ups and downs are delightful to hear. Besides, if you don’t attend, you won’t learn the correlation between virginity and pumpkin pie.

The Force compels you to attend 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25 and/or noon Saturday, Aug. 27, at the District Theatre.

IndyFringe: Sadec 1965, A Love Story

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson 

A brilliant storyteller, Flora Le spins the tale of “Sadec 1965: A Love Story,” her quest to discover her father’s hidden past in Vietnam prior to his arrival in Canada, where he attended college and married her mother.

Le’s relationship with her father was never great. He left the family when she was five. During her bi-weekly forced visitations she was neglected and abused. He refused to tell her anything about him, his family or Vietnam, no matter how much she asked.

This lack of a male touchstone in her life led her to make some poor and questionable choices along the way. However, her friend convinces her that the only way she will truly learn about the man is to visit Vietnam for herself. So, she leaves her soul-sucking job and goes upon a motorcycle tour of the country.

She proudly buys herself a beautiful motorcycle, disregarding the fact that she has never ridden on, let alone driven one. She is excited to see the foreign land, disregarding that she only knows approximately three phrases in Vietnamese. Still, she valiantly forges ahead.

Her discoveries throughout the countryside are interspersed with memories of her father. When he is struck down by a brain tumor, she visits him in the hospital but his treatment of her has not changed since she was a child. In fact, she only learns of her father’s past from interviews of the Vietnamese man her brother hired to sit by her father’s bedside.

Through him she finds out about her father’s first love, whom he left behind. She pledged herself to be faithful and wrote him over six hundred letters during a span of about six years. This devotion makes Le desperate to meet the mysterious woman, but will that connection actually be made?

Le’s story is raw and lovely as she pulls no punches regarding anyone’s faults (especially her own). However, the tapestry she weaves is engaging and beautiful and hopefully there will be another opportunity if you missed viewing it during the opening weekend of IndyFringe.

Flora Le’s story continues on her website, containing photos of those involved as well as some of the letters written. Check it out at https://www.sadec1965.com/

IndyFringe: Sweet Dreams, Pillowman

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

Monique (Audrey Stonerock) is literally a hot mess. Her apartment is a wreck, her hygiene is questionable at best, her cat has run away in disgust and her only companions are a trio of singing rats (Chelsea Mullen, Carrie Powell, and Maria Meschi). Is it any wonder she has begun talking to the pile of pillows and blankets next to her?

She has also started to imagine hearing a strange male voice from somewhere. Is it the rats playing a trick on her or something more sinister?

When she discovers that there is indeed a Pillowman (voiced and puppetted by Zachariah Stonerock), she is frightened at first, but then begins to deal with this manifestation. As is often the case, her visitor is here to help her work through the issues that have brought her to this place in her life.

In “Sweet Dreams, Pillowman*,” presented by American Lives Theatre, many hard truths are explored, but catharsis (and oranges) win out in the end.

Personally, I feel that J. E. Hibbard’s script makes a perfect Fringe show. The characters are interesting, the story is charming, it lulls you into a false sense of whimsy and then hits your emotional buttons (without going overboard).

Experience the sweetness 7:15 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, Aug. 26-27, on the Indy Eleven stage at the IndyFringe Theatre.

(*This play has nothing to do with the much-darker drama “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh; though if you do find a production of that one, be sure to check it out.)

IndyFringe: Fly Blackbird Fly/Voices We Can’t Unhear

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

“Fly Blackbird Fly/Voices We Can’t Unhear” begins by honoring those who are no longer with us. We then see the four actresses entering as children at play.

The group then comes together, giving us monologues about the physical changes of puberty as well as the rude and threatening attitudes of the boys around them to this change. Physical, mental, sexual, and social abuses are discussed, but also acknowledged as sad a part of growing up.

The ladies of the cast – Dedee Austin, Maya Mays, Rav’n Partee, and Latrice P Young – slide in and out of characters ranging in age from 7 to over 45 throughout the course of the show. They enchant us, persuade us, and challenge us not just to hear them but also to fully see them as the complex creatures they truly are.

The show, which Ms. Latrice defines as a “choreopoem,” is a mixture of poetry, scenes, music, and movement portraying the lives of these four females as they grow up into powerful and proud women. Just know that as you are never too old to see a rainbow, you should not leave this spectacle unseen.

Presented by Ms. Latrice, aka Distinctly Unique, with OnyxFest, performances are 9 p.m. Friday and 1:45 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26-27; and 5:15 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3-4, at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair.

IndyFringe: Tortillo 3, Sombrero’s Revenge

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

Casey Ross has brought back another chapter in the never-ending saga of the Tortillo Corporation and its unfortunate predicament of having cocaine mixed into the seasoning mix for their chips, again. Again.

Presenting “Tortillo 3: Sombrero’s Revenge,” by Ross’s Catalyst Repertory. Even though this is the third installment of the series, you do not have to have seen the previous ones to understand or enjoy it. In fact, highlights of the first two shows are shown prior to beginning of the performance. The cast has an opening number discussing the past events as well.

We begin with put-up Patrick (Dave Pelsue) dealing with imbecilic customer complaints as well as disappointment in the company overlooking his accomplishments.

While Dave (Robert Webster, Jr.) is trying to keep things in the company on an even keel, his decision to bring back the sexist pig, Steve (Matt Anderson) to head up their pretzel division has caused much distress throughout the company even with his wife (Lisa Marie Smith) and their baby Chip. After a heated board meeting, Patrick quits to pursue his dreams.

While Steve and his idiot nephew, Mitchell (Ryan Powell) – Patrick’s cellmate during chapter 2 – are doing research, it’s discovered that the chips are doped yet again, leaving Patrick as the prime suspect.

Will we find out who was behind this nefarious plot? Will Sombrero actually return? Who exactly is the lovely Madeline (Trick Blanchfield) and why does she seem to know so much about Patrick’s past? Also, why is Ted (Tristan Ross, no relation) even here – didn’t we kill him already? That’s not THE John Entwistle (Brian Kennedy) as our Janitor/Narrator, is it?

These burning questions and many more will be answered (whether you want them to or not) in this crazy show. Watch, laugh, enjoy, and be ready in case this gang cooks up another sequel.

Note Casey likes writing the F-word, otherwise it’s OK for teens and up, with performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27-28; and Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, Sept. 1 and 3; at the IndyFringe Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair.

IndyFringe: Ron Popp is a Responsible Adult

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

This is Ron Popp’s third show at IndyFringe and sadly it is his last, at least for a while. His keen observational humor, though, is still as sharp as ever.

He discusses various issues that resonate today such as aging (“I feel like I walked onto the set of ‘Cocoon’”); sensible gun laws (“even Chekhov had a three-act waiting period”); the state of our country (“we have racism, sexism – community productions of ‘Equus’”); and so much more.

We learn about his life during COVID, surviving the ‘90s, getting a new therapist, and being too gay to get cast in “The Wizard of Oz.”

The show is a laugh riot; it should not be missed as we cannot be sure how long it will be before he returns. Fortunately, you have four shots at this: 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27-28; 5:30 p.m. Thursday and 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1 and 3; on the Indy Eleven stage at the IndyFringe Theatre.