(Photo above taken by me with my trusty iPhone.  The beautiful artwork on the buttons is by Lydia Burris.  Her larger, and even more beautiful, original IndyFringe piece was unveiled around the beginning of August 2010 and will be on display on the side of the Firefighters’ Memorial at the intersection of College and Massachusetts Avenues in downtown Indianapolis for one year.)

Well, another Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival draws to a close.  What a satisfying week it has been, both personally and artistically. 

As usual, I learned a lot about myself and about life during Fringe week.   Plus, for the first time since I started Fringing four years ago, I did a good job of pacing myself so that I am relaxed and refreshed here at the end of the Fringe rather than exhausted.  Yay, me!

I had to give up my goal of gathering and posting links to all IndyFringe reviews because there were just so many people writing about the shows this year, both in the professional, mainstream media and among “citizen journalists” such as myself.  What a great problem to have!  I hope that people will continue to see live theatre shows and write about them year-round.

I am grateful for all of my interactions with people between shows, even the uncomfortable ones, because they either helped me clarify some things, or gave me practice with some things, or (and this is true of most of them) gave me pleasure.   

But mostly I am grateful for the shows and for all of the artists on and off stage that contributed to bringing these shows to life in this particular place, at this particular time.  I would like to have a) seen each of the 48 shows, many more than once, and b) written about each of them in detail.  This was impossible.

However, I did manage to see exactly (coincidentally) half of the 48 offerings, plus two of the busker (street performer) shows. 

AND I scrounged up the cash to pay $10 for each of the shows I saw plus buy three Fringe Backer Buttons at $5 each.  The extra Buttons were because a) I wanted to collect all three and b) one day I forgot to bring any. You have to wear your Backer Button to every show.

AND I managed to tweet about almost all of the shows I saw, using the #indyfringe hashtag (topic marker) so that my Twitter posts would show up, at least temporarily, not only in the Twitter thread for that topic but also on the homepage of Smaller Indiana as well. 

There is always room for improvement, but I feel good about my support of the Indy Fringe Festival this week, and about my on-going work as a year-round volunteer commentator on Indianapolis area performance art.

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The advantage of Twitter is that it is easy to post or read something in the moment from your iPhone (or whatever).  The disadvantage is that the content that you so carefully pared down into a pithy message using 140 characters or less disappears after just a few days.  So…Because my Indy Theatre Habit record is a little more permanent than the record on Twitter, below are the 2010 IndyFringe shows I saw, in the order that I saw them, with at least one thing each that I tweeted about them within an hour or so of seeing them.

Oh!  I should also explain that  I sometimes re-tweeted other people’s mini-reviews as well, which is considered in the “twitterverse” to be a form of both approval and generosity as long as credit is given to the original tweeter.  If you see “RT” in front of part of a tweet, that means that part was re-tweeted, or copied, from someone else.  Credit for the original tweet goes to the person behind the “@” sign.  For an example, please see “Please Don’t Use My Flannel for That: a Memoir,” below.  I wrote “Agree!” and then re-tweeted what Lorraine Ball (aka @roundpeg because that is the name of her business) wrote about the show.

“Andrea Merlyn’s Book of Magic” – Andrea Merlyn’s transgender #indyfringe show is a satisfying blend of magic tricks, history, storytelling, theatre, & schmaltz.

(Full review here.)

 “Please Don’ Use My Flannel for That: a Memoir” – Agree! RT @roundpeg #indyfringe – Loved “Don’t Use My Flannel” Fabulous one performer – great storyteller, funny and moving.

(Full review and video conversation with the performance artist here.)

“Deep in Love/For Adults Only” – Also loved local storyteller Deborah Asante’s earthy deep love stories at the #indyfringe tonight.

(Full review here.)

 “Phil the Void: Spontaneous Dumbustion” – Phil the Void says he is moving to Indy and running for mayor.  I’d vote for him.  Loved his new #indyfringe show tonight!

(Full review here.)

“Grind: the Musical” – “Grind: the Musical” is a LOT of show.  Big cast, big set, big variety of performance art forms.  Fun & charming. #indyfringe

(full review here)

 “A Brighter Shade of Blue” – Normally I would run screaming from a sexy guy dissing his “childish” ex-wife, but I enjoyed Paul Strickland’s “Brighter…Blue.” #indyfringe

(full review here)

 “Teen Jesus” – Thought I was going to hate “Teen Jesus” but it turned out to be my first standing ovation this #indyfringe.

(full review here)

“Bill & Erin: One Night Standards” – Still processing “Bill & Erin.”  Sexy, talented cast.  Very Roland-esque script.  (odd, funny) #indyfringe

(full review here)

“Blizzard Rewind” – “Blizzard Rewind” made me laugh like a seal.  Tremendous energy & presence from the 6 Bloomington actors.  #indyfringe

(I saw this show twice; full review of first time here)

“Not a Peep” – Wordless “Not a Peep” is exquisitely funny & specific.  A tad shorter, time-wise, than most #indyfringe shows but completely satisfying.

(full review here)

“Gilgamesh” – “Gilgamesh” uses 3 kinds of puppets, yes, but also masks, movement, music, & more in its powerful storytelling. #indyfringe

(full review here)

“Queue”

“Another Fifty-Five Minutes with Loren & Howard” – Loren & Howard’s #indyfringe stories went places I didn’t expect.  (Peyote & handcuffs.)

“Swan Balloon” – “Swan Balloon” is a polished reading of a touching, uplifting #indyfringe work-in-progress.

(video interview with the author/performer, Dan Bernitt, is here)

“The Four Food Groups” – “Four Food Groups” is an innovative & refreshingly mature exploration of a favorite #indyfringe topic: sex & relationships.

(Below is the full review of this piece that I wrote as part of a longer Indy Theatre Habit post that I started but didn’t have time to finish:

“The Four Food Groups,” written, directed and choreographed by Kim Popa and Lindsey Jones – ComedySportz

The Act – The usual tables and chairs at the ComedySportz venue are pushed back to make room in the middle of the floor for a wooden dining room table and four chairs.  The regular CS stage becomes a place off to the side for a lighting technician to sit, surrounded by boxes, spare props, and what-not.  As audience members enter the venue, they sit on all sides of the newly-created “stage.”  There may be a plate of rolls, or a plate of green beans, or a plate of fried chicken, or a plate of mashed potatoes near your seat.  Gradually you realize that the four people that are casually milling around the room – dressed in street clothes but in the colors of these four food groups – are the four performers in the show.  An accordion plays a refrain over and over and over and OVER again as performers and audience ease into the “meat” of the show, which is an exploration of human patterns of sex and relationships through movement, rhythm, words, and more.  The theme of “four food groups” is tied to various categories related to human interaction.

The Art – “A Fringe show about sex and relationships” is a cliché but this unique show is a creative treat.  The dancers – two men and two women – are very talented but real-looking people.  They are young, but the show’s treatment of this topic is refreshingly mature – i.e., realistically messy (both physically and emotionally), and laugh-out-loud frank and compassionate.

The Appeal – The appeal for this show is its originality and creativity, hands down.

The Audience – The audience when I saw “The Four Food Groups” held a broad mix of adult ages, from people in their late teens and twenties to people my age (49) and older.  Some people laughed out loud nervously, I think because the physical disrobing and other sexual content surprised them, while others laughed or at least smiled in comfortable recognition.  This show is definitely not for children and it is not for people who are offended by the sight of same-sex kissing or people stripping down to their underwear.

The Artists – The four performers are Johnny Kyle Cook, Matt Geller, Kate Kershaw, and Kim Popa.  Jillian Hacker is the company manager.  S.R. Woodward is the composer.  www.ponesinc.com )

“Before Tomorrow” – “Before Tomorrow” is a visually beautiful & emotionally satisfying collage of dance, words, & 3D painting-in-progress. #indyfringe

“Ophelia’s Revenge” – “Ophelia’s Revenge” is a hilarious mash-up of Shakespeare classics & zombie lore. #indyfringe

(Below is the review that I wrote as part of a longer Indy Theatre Habit post that I started but didn’t have time to finish:

“Ophelia’s Revenge,” written by director Kevin Burgun with Maria Meschi – Marion Underground

The Act – This is a “what if” mash-up comedy – What if in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” Ophelia had only faked her suicide?  What if when she clawed her way out of her grave to avenge her father’s murder and her boyfriend’s rejection she found her world populated by zombies?  This piece not only riffs on “Hamlet” and classic zombie movies, it pulls in characters and scenes from other Shakespeare plays as well.  It is a relatively fully staged, 5-act play performed by a cast of six.

The Art – Many of the lines in this play are laugh-out-loud funny.  (I am laughing again, remembering “What happens in Verona stays in Verona!”) The comedic acting is quite good.  Ben Asaykwee, for example, can convey a world of hilarious meaning in just a flick of an eyelid, but each of the cast members brings something special to the mix.  Maria Meschi’s costume and makeup designs are either gorgeous or, in the case of the zombies, appropriately disgusting.  There are several bits of creative pleasure in the set and the sound design as well.

The Appeal – “Ophelia’s Revenge” is a goofy-fun mix of the macabre and the literary that should appeal to both Shakespeare and zombie fans, but also to fans of theatre arts problem-solving.  How do you thunk a shovel into a grave on stage when you have to be able to set up and take down your Fringe show in 15 minutes, for example?

The Audience – I don’t think this show would offend anyone in terms of language but the zombies and violence that are obviously and enjoyably fake to teens and adults might be upsetting or confusing to children.

The Artists – I was impressed to read in my program (yay, programs!) that the fight choreography for this show is by local expert Eric Bryant.  Brandi Gilbert is the stage manager.  Music is by Nobody Here.  The cast includes Maria Meschi as Ophelia; Ben Asaykwee as Horatio; Carrie Morgan as Juliet; Molly Kraus as Lady Macbeth; Dave Eckard as Yorick, Polonius, and others; and Ryan Powell as Laertes, Romeo, Hamlet, and others.  I got a chance to chat briefly with Ryan on video, which you can watch here.)

“They Touch in Flood” – “They Touch in Flood” is an unabashedly sexual dancing-with-words #indyfringe show.  Fun & erotic to watch.

“The Boy in the Basement” – “Boy in the Basement” lived up to the hype.  Funny, funny show! #indyfringe

Note:  This IndyFringe show was, I think, the only show to sell out every single performance.  ,At first it was because they lucked out and got great coverage in the mainstream media, but very quickly it was because of how funny the show itself was.  The actors told me that they are going to do “the extended version” at the White Rabbit venue some time this fall.  Very exciting!

“Lot o’ Shakespeare” – “Lot o Shakespeare” is a treat.  Thrilling to hear many famous speeches & sonnets live for 1^st time. #indyfringe

Also tweeted:  I won a t-shirt in Iago Bingo & wept over Antony’s speech over Caesar’s body.  Lot o Shakespeare.  #indyfringe

“Madwomen’s Late Night Cabaret” – “Madwomen’s Café” is wacky herstory humor with 4 beautiful singing voices & feisty pianist.  #indyfringe

(I first saw this show at Divafest.  See full review of that performance here.)

“The Screw You Revue”

(tweeted before the show) I put “Screw You Review” in my “no” pile for #indyfringe…until I saw the duo working the crowds last weekend.  Stunning!

(tweeted after the show) Against all odds, I loved “Screw You Review.”  Offensive, yes(!) but also so well grounded, clever, & fresh that it’s hilarious. #indyfringe.

Note: The woman who gave the curtain talk for this show said that she is the producer of the Orlando Fringe Festival.  She and IndyFringe’s producer, Pauline Moffat, are collaborating on several projects, I think, including maybe bringing this show and “Another Shade of Blue” back to the Indy Fringe Theatre this winter.  I would love to see both of those shows again, so I hope they do!

“The Screw You Revue” is a two-hander that includes a) an exceptionally talented improv artist pretending to be a grouchy old racist/homophobic/etc. geezer and b) a stunningly beautiful and equally talented transgendered vocalist pretending to be his Lolita.   Their show starts with an enthusiastic use of the “f” word in a hilarious sentence, ends with “You’ve been screwed!” and in between is basically a politically incorrect, outrageously offensive roast of whoever catches their attention in the audience, interspersed with lovely music and funny choreography.

But here’s the thing: I think these two also have very finely-tuned senses about what they can get away with in every situation and with every person.  Also, on some level I think you realize that they are coming at all this bird-flipping and snark-flinging from a victorious and compassionate former victim position.  Aggh, I don’t have the words to describe what I mean!  But anyway, somehow, they are lovable rather than hate-able, even though their show is so outrageous.

And in any case, I was touched and impressed by the effort they had taken to learn about Indianapolis and ground their traveling show here.  Not only had they created a song for Indianapolis, they were able to throw in reference after reference to Indy in their improv work.

“Tale of Mephisto” – “Tale of Mephisto” like nothing I’d ever seen before.  AMAZING (yes, the “a” word) dancer.  Story went over my head, tho’.  #indyfringe

“Archy and Mehitabel” – “Archy & Mehitabel” is funny-sweet poetry & philosophy from a 1916 writer via a great actor.  Its relevance made me weep.  #indyfringe

Today (Sunday, August 29, 2010) is the last day of the Indy Fringe.  The last set of performances is at 10:30pm.  If you haven’t “Fringed” yet this year, you still can.  For more information about the shows and the schedule, please see the regular IndyFringe website at www.indyfringe.org or the very easy-to-use mobile version at www.m.indyfringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres year-round and at the 2011 Indy Fringe!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.twitter.com/indytheatre.

I haven’t had much writing time during the past two days, but I was able to make two more little videos with performers from the 2010 Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival.

In the above video, playwright-performer Dan Bernitt talks about his solo staged reading of “Swan Balloon,” a fairy tale for adults. 

(By the way, there is nothing about “Swan Balloon” that is inappropriate for children, but probably the children who would most appreciate it are children that are already used to being read aloud to and are therefore used to having to/getting to use their own imaginations for significant stretches of time.  I do think that adults will pick up on more of the subtext in this story than children would.  That said, it is a sweet story, good for adults that are in the mood for something touching and, yes, uplifting.)

To make the video, last night Dan walked me to my next show, “Ophelia’s Revenge,” and we recorded our conversation in front of that venue, the Marian Underground, before we went our separate ways. 

This was my first time at this new IndyFringe venue.  The Marian building is an easy walk from Massachusetts Avenue.  From Theatre on the Square, for example, you walk down to the Athenaeum Theatre, which is not a Fringe venue this year but you may remember it from years past.  You will probably hear the music blasting from the Rathskellar Restaurant, which is in the same building.  You turn left onto New Jersey.  The Marian building is just past the Catholic church (St. Mary’s, I think it’s called) on the same side of the street.

Another way of finding it, if you’re driving, is to go to the Marsh grocery store that used to be O’Malia’s.  The Marian building is right behind the Marsh parking lot on New Jersey.  During the festival there is a big IndyFringe sign out front.  A small plaque on the building itself says “Marian Building” or something like that. 

The theatre space is in the basement.  Sit as close to the front as you can because the floor is not raked (i.e. everyone sits on the same level) and the stage is only slightly raised.  Hold your elbows in if you sit on the aisle so that you don’t get bitten by zombies.

After I laughed out loud at “Ophelia’s Revenge,” one of the zombies from the show, Ryan Powell, let me try again to make a little video with him.  I got flustered again, as you’ll see if you watch the video, but at least I made sure this time that the little red light on my iPhone was flashing.  I appreciate Ryan giving me a second chance.

Oh!  And here’s the video:

I saw three Fringe shows on Tuesday night:  “Another 55 Minutes with Loren and Howard,” “Swan Balloon,” and “The Four Food Groups.”  I saw three more shows last night (Wednesday night):  “Before Tomorrow,” “Ophelia’s Revenge,” and “They Touch in Flood.”

I got something useful and/or enjoyable from each of these six shows, so I would like to write in detail about each of them.  However, I may or may not have time, so here is what I tweeted (wrote on www.twitter.com/indytheatre) right after each show:

• Loren & Howard’s #indyfringe stories went places I didn’t expect. (Peyote & handcuffs)
• “Swan Balloon” is a polished reading of a touching, uplifting #indyfringe work-in-progress.
• “Four Food Groups” is an innovative & refreshingly mature exploration of a favorite #indyfringe topic: sex & relationships.
• “Before Tomorrow” is a visually beautiful & emotionally satisfying collage of dance, words, & 3D painting-in-progress. #indyfringe
• Great surprise to see Ben Asaykwee in “Ophelia’s Revenge.”  He is also in “Madwomen” this week at #indyfringe!
• “Ophelia’s Revenge” is a hilarious mash-up of Shakespeare’s classics & classic zombie lore.  #indyfringe
• “They Touch in Flood” is an unabashedly sexual dancing-with-words #indyfringe show.  Fun & erotic to watch.

In case you’re not familiar with Twitter.com, a word with a pound sign (#) is known as a “hashtag.”  It a signal that something is a topic.  It is distracting at first, but after a while you get used to seeing them.  Hashtags make it easier (at least while the trend is happening) to find everything that anyone has tweeted about a certain topic, assuming that everyone puts #indyfringe (or whatever the topic is) somewhere in each of their Indy Fringe-related tweets.

The tweets will disappear after a while though, which is not so great.

I am headed back downtown now to “toast the new season” presented by Broadway Across America.  Then I am going to try again to see “The Boy in the Basemen” at the Indy Fringe.  It was been sold out every time I’ve tried before.  Wish me luck!

The 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival continues in six venues on and around Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) through Sunday, August 29, 2010.  For more information, please see the standard IndyFringe website – www.indyfringe.org – OR see the new and fabulously satisfying mobile version from your phone – www.m.indyfringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.Twitter.com/IndyTheatre.

Yesterday I made two little videos while hanging out between shows at the 2010 Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival.  In the video above, “The Last Straight Man in Theatre,” Kurt Fitzpatrick, talks with me about his multi-media solo show (which I hope to see next weekend) and shares advice about how to succeed as a performer on the Fringe circuit.  He is from New York and has taken this particular Fringe show on the road throughout the Midwestern United States and Canada.

(While Kurt and I are talking, his stage manager is recording both of us for their own video files.)

The other little impromptu video, which is at the bottom of this post, is of cast members and friends of “Grind: the Musical” sharing songs from that show for the people walking by on Massachusetts Avenue.  I’m sorry I didn’t stand close enough for my iPhone to pick up the sound better, but I think you can still tell that there are some lovely singing voices in the “Grind” company.

Also at the bottom of this post is a review of “Bill and Erin: One Night Standards.”  But first I’d like to indulge myself with a sort of Fringe-goer’s reflective journal entry:

**********

This is my fourth year writing about the Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival.   I love that everyone’s experience of the festival is unique.    

A big part of my experience this year so far has been laughter: laughing a lot myself, but also thinking about laughter and enjoying the variety of laughs that I hear in live theatre audiences. 

I mentioned in a previous post an Indianapolis theatre audience regular whose laugh annoys me because it seems deliberately produced to draw attention to the laugher and take attention away from what’s happening on stage.  I don’t know that it is deliberate; it just seems that way to me.

Another famous Indianapolis laugher is actor Tristan Ross.  Tristan has just come off a run as the mute king in Wayne Township Community Theatre’s production of “Once Upon a Mattress.”  He was hilarious in that role, by the way.

I hope I won’t make Tristan feel self-conscious if he happens to read this post, but I love his laugh.  It is rich and deep and joyful and sincere.  More importantly, he produces it generously when he is the audience of a show he enjoys.  “Produces” is not quite the right word, though, because although it is controlled – he seems to pull back when he senses he is pulling attention away from the stage – his laugh never sounds faked or forced.  It’s more like he allows his mirth to tumble out, like the Ghost of Christmas Present in “A Christmas Carol.”

Anyway, I always notice Tristan’s laugh when we happen to be in an audience together, and in that moment, yes, I guess I am distracted out of the story that is happening on stage.  But it is always easy to fall back into the story, smiling with pleasure at the way Tristan’s laugh enhances, rather than detracts from, what is going on on stage.

He was in the audience when I saw “Blizzard Rewind” on Sunday night, and I appreciated his laugh again.  I bet the Bloomington Playwrights Project actors did, too.

I am pretty sure that my response to both famous laughers is not based on some deeply-buried cultural belief that it is okay for men to be loud and distinctive but not okay for women.  However, that thought made me try to remember audience laughs that I love that happen to be from women.  Local professional actress Karen Irwin’s supportive laugh comes immediately to mind and I’m sure there are others.

It is probably no accident that the best audience laughers are also, at other times, performers.

I’m not saying that theatre-goers should pay a lot of attention to the way they laugh.  Pay attention to the show!  Be yourself and respond in whatever way is authentic for you, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. 

I’m just saying that I discovered this week at IndyFringe that one of the many things that I love about being at a live theatre show is the fact that whether I go by myself or with friends, it’s a shared experience, for better or worse.  The audience is an influential ingredient in the experience.

**********

I picked up my media pass on Day One of the Indy Fringe Festival as usual because it is a boost to my ego, but I decided to pay my own way to Fringe shows this year.  This means I feel no obligation to write about every show I see.

However, I did want to share a few more thoughts about a show I enjoyed last Saturday night and ran out of time to write about on Sunday:

“Bill and Erin: One Night Standards,” written by Matthew Roland – ComedySportz

The Act – This comedy is a five(or six!?)-hander about two friends and roommates:  a gay man named Bill (played by Bill Skaggs) and a straight woman named Erin (played by Erin Cohenour.)   Bill is lonely and Erin is horny.  They decide to look for someone to meet both their needs.  Along the way, they meet a wide variety of other characters.

The Art – I don’t know for sure, but I imagine that one of the reasons the playwright wrote this play is that he loved working with Bill Skaggs and Erin Cohenour on other projects and/or admired their performance work in general and so decided to write a play just for them.  Bill and Erin are friends in real life, too, and although not, as far as I know, roommates, they are both members of Indyprov (a local improv comedy group) so their on-stage chemistry is extra-comfortable and appealing.  Their delivery of their fast-paced dialogue is as chaotic and yet controlled as a game of crack-the-whip.

While he was working on this script, I imagine playwright Matt decided to incorporate several digs and tickles that could only be fully appreciated by other people that he either knows in real life and/or that have seen his other work.  Maybe I’m over-thinking it, but for me, for example, the hilarious appearance of a Stephen Hawking-esque character in “Bill and Erin” was a reference to Matt’s portrayal (as an actor) of a similar character in the Phoenix Theatre’s production of the rolling world premiere of “End Days,” by Deborah Zoe Laufer in 2008. 

That particular reference is accessible to just about anyone, though, because the actor in “Bill and Erin” is funny in his portrayal, too, and you don’t need to have seen “End Days” to appreciate it.  (I’m sorry I don’t know that actor’s name.)  Also, the appearance of that particular character in that place and time in “Bill and Erin” makes sense as a part of the whole even as it surprises.  Other references might be just confusing to audience members that don’t have the right insider background.

However, I also think that the “Huh?  WTF?!  Am I missing something or is this part just bizarre?” response is what Matt Roland’s fans, including me, relish about all of his plays. 

There are several examples of funny meta-writing in the “Bill and Erin” script, too, which I think is another Roland trademark.   Characters make references to the fact that they are in a play, on a stage, or whatever, and then go back to living in the play. 

The clever, clever staging makes impressive use of the teeny-tiny ComedySportz space and therefore becomes almost another character in the story.

Both Bill and Erin have beautiful singing voices, and we get to hear them sing a bit in this piece.  Erin’s singing voice, in particular, always surprises and then delights me with its distinctiveness whenever I hear it.

The Appeal – When I was waiting in line for another show, a stranger told me that he likes live theatre best when he knows someone in the show.  “It’s fun to see them become someone else for a little while,” he said.  If you know any of the actors in this show, even if you only know them from other shows, I bet you will love them in this show.  If you are already a Matthew Roland fan, I bet you will enjoy this script.  If you don’t know any of these artists, the appeal of this show is probably its politically incorrect, tongue-in-cheek bawdiness and its quirkiness.  (Did I mention there is an invisible homeless guy in it?)

The Audience – Language and content make this for adults only, and probably only for adults that are not easily offended and who don’t need to have every thread in their art tied off neatly.

*************

Here is that little street jam video I promised  you:

And now I’m off to another show.  The 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival continues in six venues on and around Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) through Sunday, August 29, 2010.  For a show schedule and more information about any of this year’s 48 IndyFringe shows, please visit www.indyfringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.Twitter.com/indytheatre

I stood to applaud after each of the three shows that I saw on my third day of the 2010 Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival, and not just because all three came with paper programs. 

Paper programs are understandably rare for Fringe shows since their cost keeps performers from reaching the goal of breaking even financially, let alone making a profit.  It can be argued that spare cash is better spent on designing and printing postcards that include a web address directing interested people to more info about the show’s background, cast, and design team.  The postcards double as programs and as something for “off-duty” performers to hand out as they’re schmoozing the people waiting in line for other shows.

However, for local (usually professional) theatre companies that exist, or hope to exist, beyond the Fringe circuit, a separate paper program, printed in judicious quantities so as not to waste paper, can offer a good return on investment in terms of audience development.

Paper programs are also a good way for a show’s producer/parent to publicly say “thank you” to the village of individuals that have helped raise the show, especially since there is little or no time for a curtain talk at a Fringe show.

Paper programs are also an opportunity for an additional revenue stream if someone associated with the show has the time and skill to go after paid advertising and get it into the paper program before the show opens.

I know, I know: paper programs use up limited natural resources.  I’m working on decreasing my carbon footprint by doing things like bringing my own cloth bags to the grocery store, but I think I will always enjoy bringing paper programs home from the theatre.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the three IndyFringe shows I saw last night:

“Blizzard Rewind” presented by the Bloomington Playwrights Project – Theatre on the Square

The Act – Six actors, flanked by two long tables filled with props and backed by several whiteboards covered with a chart of years from 1981-2010 with corresponding titles, explain to the audience that their challenge is to present 30 very short plays in 60 minutes in the random order that the audience calls for them.  A huge digital clock projected on the back of the set blinks down the time that is left.  Someone in the audience yells out a year, one actor wipes that year from the white boards while the other actors scurry to grab the props and minimal set pieces that go with that year’s play.  One of the actors repeats the title and yells, “Go!” and the play begins.  At the end (usually mere moments later), an actor yells, “Curtain!” and it is time for the audience to shout out another year.

The Art – This piece is so much fun, like a roller coaster ride!  It made me laugh like a seal sometimes and I can’t remember the last time I felt so engaged at a sketch comedy show.  In other words, the energy in this piece is tremendous and infectious.  All six actors are consistently, fully present, and it is a rush, a high, a whatever you want to call it, to be part of their work.  There are fun flashes of improv comedy during the lightning-fast scene changes.  There is comedy in most of the tidy little plays, too, but the pacing within them varies deliciously without ever losing the momentum of the show overall.  For example, the play for 1986 is called “Instant Replay.”  Things were moving much too fast for me to check off each play on my program during the show, but I think that must have been the one in which we see a couple fighting over a TV show…and then see their fight again in slow, slow, slow motion from the rear.  Oh, my goodness, I am laughing again, remembering that one.  In contrast, the play for 1985 is “Popular Dance Moves in 1985, Performed by the Worst Dancer in the Cast.”  It is not a story, but it is hilarious because it is exactly what the title promises.  The actor who performs the dances moves quickly as they are announced and okay, maybe she is not the best dancer in the cast, but I loved her full-bodied effort.  I wanted to shout, “Sister, you dance FINE!”  Still another contrast on top of contrast comes in the hilarious British reserve conveyed in 1997’s “Terrible ‘Yo Mama’ Harry Potter Jokes Stolen From the Internet.”  At the end of the show, the floor is covered with carrot peelings and other detritus from the 30 short plays, and the actors are drenched in sweat and other liquids, but the audience is left both weak and refreshed.

The Appeal – Since the show’s order is completely random and different every time, the arc of each performance is completely different every time.  If one of the things you love most about live theatre is that anything can happen, this is a show for you.  Also, since the Bloomington Playwrights’ Project is devoted to promoting new work, I assume that this show is a world premiere of each of the 30 short plays.  There are 30 plays because BPP has been in existence for 30 years, which is worth celebrating in and of itself. And if you are a compulsive clock-checker, you won’t have to distract your neighbors by lighting up your phone in the middle of the show because you can check the show’s clock any time you want.

The Audience – Some language and content make this an adults-only show, but within the range of adult generations, there is something for everyone here.  If one nano-play bores or offends you, don’t worry: it will be over in just a moment. 

The Artists – Since I have a paper program to refer to, I can tell you that “Blizzard Rewind” was directed by Chad Rabinovitz.  He and Emily Goodson, Gabe Gloden, Janet Burroway, Julian Livingston, Jonathan Graham, Nancy Beverly, Mark Levine, April Smallwood, Rachel Himsel, Mark Anderson, Erin Sullivan, and Josie Gingrich wrote the 30 short pieces.  The six-member acting ensemble includes Kathleen Walker, Gabe Gloden, Emily Goodson, Derrick Krober, Shannon Walsh, and Daniel Petrie.  Tommy Wilson was the assistant director, Sam McKay the stage manager, Kelsey Sheppard the choreographer, and Delcie Pace the props master.

“Not a Peep” by the ShadowApe Theatre Company – Theatre on the Square

The Act – This IndyFringe show is a three-for-the-price-of one bargain presented by three local professional actors.  1) You get the title piece, which is a wordless story about three co-workers’ interactions during one fateful day at the office.   2) You get the set change piece that is a little character-driven story all by itself.  3) You get the third piece, which is a cautionary tale about consumer lust.  They are all hilarious.

The Art – This IndyFringe show is a triple-threat in terms of artistic value, too.  1) You get the slow build of a laughter ladder:  you grin, then you giggle, then you laugh out loud, again and again.  2)  You get the breathtaking specificity of the three actors’ work.   These are actors’ actors, showing in a very accessible way what pro’s can do without words.  3) You get the delightfully subtle layers of connection between the three pieces.  They don’t seem to be connected at first (beyond, of course, what they share in terms of humor and excellent execution) but when you get home and chew on them a bit you realize that they are all about relationships and communication and funny, mistaken desires.  They are all three very gentle nudges towards consciousness.  Icing is the clean, crisp look of the show: the costumes and set pieces are almost all combinations of beige, black, and white, with a lighting design that perfectly illuminates without being overbearing.

The Appeal – If you are a theatre snob, this is the IndyFringe show for you.  Paradoxically, if you are a “just folks” theatre-goer, this is also the IndyFringe show for you.

The Audience – I would not take squiggly people of any age to this show because although it is not hard work at all to be in the audience, you do have to just settle down and breathe while you watch the show unfold.  That said, I imagine this would be a great piece for families with older children to bond over and I would recommend it to just about any adults on their own…except possibly those that can’t take a joke about their obsessions.

The Artists – The three actors are Jennifer Johansen, Constance Macy, and Ben Tebbe.  Also in the company are Robert K. Johansen, Robert M. Koharchik, Ryan Koharchik, and Michael Lamirand.

“Gilgamesh,” retold and directed by Joanna Winston and presented by Half/Black Productions – Theatre on the Square

The Act – The ancient epic of Gilgamesh is brought to life through the use of spoken storytelling and acting by eight actors plus dance choreography, fight choreography, masks and other costumes, recorded music, and three (or more?) kinds of puppets.  Gilgamesh is the story of a god-like king.  It is also the story of a human man.  Gilgamesh finds, then loses, his best friend and almost destroys himself through grief.  It is a story that explores humanity’s ties to both our animal nature and the divine, and our fascination with both immortality and death.  It is a power story that has survived for thousands of years.

The Art – I won’t pretend to be a Gilgamesh scholar, but this felt like a good adaptation:  true to the very complex and iconic original story yet accessible and satisfying to modern audiences within the 60-minute confines of a Fringe show.  In any case, I cried cathartically all the way through it and leapt to my feet at the end to applaud.   The masks are eerie and gorgeously detailed.  The puppets range from tiny and clever to enormous and stunning.  The music, lighting, and set panels are perfectly chosen to enhance the mood of the piece.  The actors move and speak in ways that are believable and earthy, yet also timeless, as if to honor the thousands of ways and times this story has been shared over the centuries.  Oh, it’s giving me chills again, remembering the power that came through this particular combination of artistic elements.

The Appeal – This is nothing like “The Odyssey” or “The Search for the Holy Grail” and it doesn’t follow the tasks in Joseph Campbell’s description of the Hero’s Journey.  However, if those kinds of big stories are like meat to you (or beans and rice if you’re vegetarian, whatever), then you would probably enjoy this piece, too.  If you have already heard or read the story of Gilgamesh somewhere else, then yes, you will be better able to take in names such as “Enkidu” and “Utnapishtim” and the finer plot points, but if you hadn’t heard of Gilgamesh before this week, don’t worry.  The script, the director, the actors, and the other visuals in this IndyFringe show will carry you along.

The Audience – I wouldn’t bring squiggly people to this show, nor people who can’t help asking questions out loud about a show as it is happening, because I suspect that this show is either a trance-producer or it’s not, and therefore the only people that should be allowed in are people that are polite enough to sit quietly and let others bliss out even if they themselves are not sure what’s going on.  (I think I lucked out, seeing it at 10:30pm.)  That said, I don’t think there is anything in this show that would offend anyone.  And the puppets and masks are very cool.  However, parents should be the judge as to whether this is the right time for their own children to see an ultimately hopeful story that includes a lot of sadness and death.

The Artists – “Gilgamesh” was written, directed, and produced by Joanna Winston, who was also the head designer.  Amanda Meyer is stage manager and props mistress. 

The cast includes Noah Winston as Gilgamesh and Quinn Leary as his beloved friend, Enkidu, with a Chorus Ensemble that includes Joe Esbenshade as Hunter/Scorpion Man; Kienan Finley as Urshanabi; Greer Gerni as Temple Priestess/The Goddess Ishtar; Kerry Stauffer as Hunter’s Son/Scorpion Woman/Ninsun; Patrick Weigand as Utnapishtim; and Kendra Wilcox as Siduri. 

Patrick Weigan is the puppet engineer and head puppeteer.  Costumes are by Quinn Leary and Kendra Wilcox.  Mask design & construction by Pamela Gray & Joanna Winston.  Set design & construction by Pamela Gray & Noah Winston.

********** 

I’m off, now, to see another show or two.  The Indy Fringe Festival continues at six venues on or near Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) through Sunday, August 29, 2010.  For a schedule and more information about the shows, please see www.IndyFringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.twitter.com/IndyTheatre.

P.S. – Yes, I took the photo of the programs, above, with my trusty iPhone, and yes, those are my sheets, which means, no, I have not made my bed yet today.  Give me a break, please: I’m on vacation and this is IndyFringe week!  (Yay!)

On my second day of shows at the 2010 Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival, I found myself standing in line next to a zombie.  I asked if I could make a little video with him for my blog while we were waiting.  He “grrr!”ed affirmatively, so I pulled out my iPhone and began.

Unfortunately, I must not have tapped the correct icon, because when I got home, I had no zombie video.   “Epic fail!” as the gamers say.  Grr!

So…Zombie Ryan, if I see you around the Fringe again, I’d like to try again, if you’re willing.  In any case, I will look forward to seeing you in “Ophelia’s Revenge” at the Marian Underground venue later this week.

In the meantime, for my beloved blog readers I have two little videos of some of this year’s IndyFringe most hypnotic street performers.  The video at the top of this post is of Carenza bint Asya and her friends.  The video at the bottom of this post is of some hula hoopers about whom I know nothing, unfortunately, except that they were able to do amazing things with not only hoops but huge fire batons and more. 

(8-29-10 update:  The woman with the hula hoop in the video below left me a comment.  Her name is Lynn Spencer-Nelson and she is part of Indy Hoopers, a “Hoop Instruction Company.”  She teaches weekly classes and workshops.  Her company also offers instructional parties for ages 8 and up and parties just for fun for all ages.  They also bring nationally known instructors to the Indianapolis area.

The man in the video will always be Sexy Fire Guy to me, but he is officially part of a company called Phoenix Fire Productions. 

During the second weekend of the fringe, more performers from both groups were back on Mass. Ave., this time with a comedic announcer and many more kinds of hoops and fiery juggling items.  It was even more of a treat to watch their work a second time!)

I also saw four more shows in theatres at IndyFringe.  Here are my thoughts on them:

“Grind: the Musical” – Theatre on the Square

The Act – A coffee shop called “The Rush” in Minneapolis, Minnesota is emotional home to several people.  Only the owner, a young woman named Coco who is trying to fund her brother’s college degree in music, knows that their building is scheduled for demolition.  Each of the characters has his or her own concerns.  Their stories, and the overall story arc, are conveyed through spoken interactions, dance, beat poetry, shadow puppetry, web comics, and live instrumental music sampling a variety of musical styles from rap to gospel.

The Art – The plot is a cliché but the execution of it is not.  The fact that the show is a portfolio of the company members’ many talents could be overwhelming but somehow it is delightful instead.  Somehow, the overflowing artistic smorgasbord is also a neatly packaged homage to the wide variety of creativity and human interaction that (forgive the expression) percolates daily in coffee shops around the world.  Also, from the dinging of the bell over the invisible shop door to the funny coffee references in the script to the hand-lettered “practice encouraged” sign taped to the electric piano to the paint-spattered barista aprons to the dramatic red and blue lighting design to the exaggerated Minnesotan accent of one of the cameo characters, the show is filled with pleasures for fans of theatre craft.  Also, my first down-my-face tears at the 2010 IndyFringe came during a song in this show when Coco and her brother, Dylan, remember their parent’s deaths and re-affirm their gratitude and support for each other. 

The Appeal – This is a fully-staged theatrical production with live music and a gazillion props and set pieces.  It has an 8-member cast and a 3-member traveling crew.  All of this is rare (perhaps nuts) for a Fringe production, especially one from out of town.  If you don’t usually go to the Fringe because you think it is all solo shows, this IndyFringe show is worth going downtown for.  Also, the piece itself is an original piece and its presence at the 2010 Indy Fringe Festival is an Indiana premiere.  Beyond all that, this piece, although it has different content and structure, has a heart that reminded me of “Edges,”  “bare: the musical,” and “Songs for a New World.”

The Audience – I don’t remember any language or content that would make parents of elementary school children cringe but its main audience is probably teens, college students, people in their 20s, older adults who are still young and idealistic in their hearts, and any solo artist of any age that has ever found the human interaction they needed in a coffee shop.

“A Brighter Shade of Blue” – ComedySportz

The Act – Solo performer Paul Strickland shares angry-funny stories related to his (recent?) divorce as well as stories from his growing up in the Hope Grounds Trailer Park in Florida and his travels through Arkansas.  Some of his jokes put down other individuals and groups of people.  Sometimes his humor is self-deprecating. 

The Art – If you run into Paul walking along Mass. Ave. this week handing out postcards to promote his show, he will say that in his show “I talk about my divorce and learn to think positive.” Normally I would run screaming from a sexy man (and Paul Strickland is sexy, whether he thinks he is or not – those twinkly blue eyes! that huggable body!) who is still calling his ex-wife “childish,” especially if he thinks playful comments about dinosaurs are something to be scorned out of hand.  I also don’t usually enjoy humor that is based on put-downs and (paradoxically I know) I have my own history with dysfunctional family sayings such as “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  In Paul’s show, one of his stories is about his mother telling his 7-year-old self to go back to bed until he can “wake up in a better mood.”  I know from outrage at having my feelings dismissed and I know, like Paul, that learning to process one’s anger in a healthy way is a life journey.

However.

The balance and layers in this piece are subtly wonderful.  This piece includes emotional risk-taking, vulnerability, and honesty, but it is crafted in such as a way as to be art rather than therapy.  If Paul’s jokes make you laugh, you can just laugh.  You don’t have to worry about having to rescue him.  And they probably will make you laugh, at least sometimes, whether you are usually a fan of anger-comedy or not.  I heard big laughs at different times from different parts of the room during this show, which is always a sign to me of a piece’s richness.  I also had to be careful about sipping my own lemonade because Paul’s work prompted me into several near-snorts as well. But the rest of the time I relished his word-smithing, his easy rapport with his audience, and his good comic timing.

The Appeal – If you love redneck humor and/or anger-humor, consider seeing this show.  If you are a fan of comic storytelling (as opposed to just strings of punch lines) there’s a lot to appreciate here in terms of layered story crafting, too. 

The Audience – This show is definitely not for children, but that’s mostly because the stories probably wouldn’t interest them than because of language or explicit content.  This is probably not for adults that are offended by even mild political incorrectness, either.  I imagine that people who have blind-sided by divorce will be able to relate to this show, but it deserves a broader audience than that.

“Teen Jesus: A Tuneful Testament” – Theatre on the Square (TOTS)

The Act – This musical theatre piece plays with the question “What would Jesus do” if he had been a high school student in 2010 when he found out through a career aptitude test that he had been called to save the world?  What if he looked like Justin Beiber?  What if his girlfriend, Mary Magdalene, was a Britney Spears wannabe?  And so on.  It is narrated by John the Baptist’s still-alive head on a platter set on a cart pushed by a mute but feisty leper.

The Art – This piece prompted my first (and only, so far) standing ovation at the 2010 IndyFringe because it was so much funnier, richer, more clever, more polished, and more emotionally satisfying than I had expected.  For some reason I had thought it was going to be not even offensive but stupid.  Boy, was I wrong!

(In case you’re wondering, although I like to think of myself as a theatre adventurer, I am not usually a theatrical masochist.  I went because a) a fellow devoted Christian and theatre junkie told me that he had seen a rehearsal and thought it was hilarious and b) I found out that a woman with a distracting laugh was already in the audience at the show I had planned to see in this time slot. Divine intervention?  Quite possibly.)

I wish there had been a program for this show, or at least a website that identified the artists associated with it.  The script is full of groaners but also full of hilariously accurate Biblical references.  Although it throws wicked verbal daggers at organized religion and strokes just about every rage button there is for people that feel let down by their religious experience, ultimately, and without preaching, it honors Christ’s most important teaching, which is to love one another.  Okay, there is one teeny bit of preaching at the end, but even that escapes being maudlin by provoking a bark of laughter with John’s sincere four-word reinterpretation of “Love one another.”

I recognized all of the cast members as local actors whose work I have enjoyed in several other shows at TOTS and other theatres around Indianapolis.  Their comedic singing/dancing/acting work is quite enjoyable in this show, too.  The direction is tight in terms of blocking and pacing and there is enough substance in terms of lighting, sound, costumes, props, and set design to make this feel more like a show from TOTS’ regular season than a Fringe piece.  The songs are mostly parodies of famous songs from other movies and musicals, but the sexy-funny choreography is (I learned via a tweet from her) original, debut work by local performance artist Erin Cohenour, who is currently appearing in another IndyFringe show, “Bill and Erin: One Night Standards,” written by Matthew Roland.

This piece reminded me of other spoof theatre pieces such as “Jewtopia,” by Brian Vogel and Sam Wolfson, and “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead,” by Bert V. Royal.  However, even though in some ways “Teen Jesus” is derivative of those pieces, both of which were produced by TOTS within the past couple of years, it is more successful, I think, because with all of its spoofing it still follows the basic, iconic Christian story. 

“Teen Jesus” also succeeds because, like Christopher Moore’s novel, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, it is definitely irreverent but it is NOT mean-spirited.

The Appeal – Like “Grind: the Musical” this is one of those rare Fringe shows with a relatively large cast and a relatively fully staged production.  “Teen Jesus” is also a world premiere and a fine example of parody.

The Audience – If you’re offended by the suggestion that Jesus would have found his calling to be a “cock-block” even as he accepted it, then this is not the show for you. 

I also saw and enjoyed “Bill and Erin: One Night Standards” – a characteristically quirky world premiere by local playwright Matthew Roland about truth and loneliness, starring sexy-funny performers - but I have run out of writing time for today.  More later, maybe.

In the meantime, here is that other little video I promised you.  (I apologize for the ad.  YouTube didn’t used to put ads right on the videos.  I am going to have to re-think my method of adding video clips to my blog.)

The Indy Fringe Festival continues at six venues on or near Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) through Sunday, August 29, 2010.  For a schedule and more information about the shows, please see www.IndyFringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.Twitter.com/IndyTheatre

I had a wonderful, wonderful first day of shows at the 2010 Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival yesterday.  I met some lovely new people (including Australian comedian Lou Sanz – see the little informal video we made after her first show, above) and reconnected with some dear friends.

And…I saw four satisfying shows!

“Andrea Merlyn’s Book of Secrets” – Theatre on the Square (TOTS).

The Act – Local transgender magician Taylor Martin performs as Andrea Merlyn sharing stories from her 50+ years of performing all over the country, meeting all kinds of people.  She incorporates magic tricks with props – including the Book of Secrets itself – plus clips of recorded music, a few costume changes, a bit of lip-synching, a mouthful of bubbles, and more into her stories, assisted by Taylor Martin’s wife and two other stage hands.

The Art – The stories from Andrea’s life fit neatly into the overall story arc of 1) being at a magic show, 2) getting to go back stage to chat intimately with the magician at intermission, and then 3) going back out with her to enjoy the second act of the show.  A repeated reference to the singing Chipmunks ties the beginning of the piece to the end of the piece in a very satisfying way.  The show is neatly staged and tightly put together – neither rushed nor padded.  The patter made me smile and sometimes laugh out loud.  I was sitting near the light booth and even heard the tech guys chuckling from time to time.  Some of the magic tricks are performed competently but transparently: you can guess how they work, so you just enjoy sharing Andrea’s delight in presenting them.  However, the sleight-of-hand in the bubble trick is seamless, and a trick towards the end that incorporates an unknown audience member is “hey, how’d she do that?!” amazing. 

The Appeal – There is a schmaltzy, homemade, bravely-adult-but-still-joyful quality to Andrea’s work that is very appealing.  She has been through a lot and she pretends to be jaded, but she’s not.  She obviously loves everything about magic – from collecting antique magic props to sharing her vast knowledge of magic history – and she obviously loves working with live audiences.  You definitely feel seen, heard, and acknowledged when you are in her audience.  There is at least one other 2010 IndyFringe act that incorporates cross-dressing, and there is at least one other that incorporates magic, but I guarantee you that none of the other acts are quite like Andrea’s.  Taylor Martin’s magic show, starring either Andrea Merlyn or one of Taylor’s other personifications, is also one of only two acts that have been part of the 6-year-old Indy Fringe Festival from the beginning.  (Andrea shares the honor with Phil the Void.)   If you have never seen one of Taylor Martin’s shows, you have not truly Fringed in Indianapolis.  If you have seen Taylor’s work before, don’t worry:  the 2010 show includes a lot of new material plus a trick from Andrea’s “greatest hits” collection.

The Audience – This is an “adults only” show only because a parent might have to answer some awkward questions from a child about why that man is wearing make-up and a dress, and because children might not be interested in all of the stories.  Also, Andrea uses the “s” word once.

“Please Don’t Use My Flannel for That: A Memoir” – Phoenix Theatre, sponsored by Storytelling Arts of Indiana.

The Act – Australian writer/stand-up comedian Lou Sanz gives “a reading” from her memoir-in-progress.  The chapter she shares is about her selling a screenplay as a 19-year-old (I think) and coming to Hollywood from Melbourne to fulfill her dreams.  She has the most outrageously bad luck when she gets to the United States – everything from falling in with a racist pimp she calls The Cowboy to falling in “love” with a heroin user/dish washer that she meets at Denny’s.

The Art – Lou speaks from beside or behind a music stand that holds her writing, but this show is so much more a crafted and polished performance piece than a mere reading.  For one thing, if Lou hasn’t memorized the whole thing I’d be surprised, she is that comfortable walking away from the stand and interacting with her audience.  Also, subtle but effective lighting choices, subtle incorporation of props such as eyeglasses and balled up pieces of paper, even Lou’s choice of what to wear (leopard print top over cute black shorts plus glittery purple eyeliner and red, red lipstick at the performance I saw) add layers of artistic polish to the show as well.  Her word choices and her story-shaping make for brilliant writing.  Her deadpan delivery and deliciously impeccable comic timing make for brilliant performance art.  I wish I could hear and see the next chapter in her memoir as well!

The Appeal – Beyond the basic appeal of excellence in literary and performance art, if you like your IndyFringe experience to have an international flavor, this show is filled with fascinating cross-cultural references.  Plus, there is the delight of Lou’s Australian accent. 

The Audience – I heard both men and women roaring with laughter at this show.  This show is definitely only for adults, and only for adults who are not easily offended by shocking language and content.  This show’s humor is sophisticated but it does include references to things like finger raping and dick-kicking, never mind the occasional “f” word.

“Deep in Love/For Adults Only” – Phoenix Theatre, sponsored by Storytelling Arts of Indiana

The Act – Local (I think) musician Vincent Howard plays some sprightly jazz compositions on a portable electric piano before MC Jacques Carry warms up the audience further with a short, funny joke about love.  Then storyteller Deborah Asante shares a story or two from her repertory of adult love stories.  The selection at each of her 2010 IndyFringe performances will be unique.  On the night I was there, she told a longish story that had come to her “in a dream.”  It was about an African-American woman in 1948 who farmed and made a little extra money by providing room and board to “colored travelers” that couldn’t stay in whites-only hotels.  One of her guests was a man that became both lover and threat.  Deborah also told a shorter story about a woman and her frog pet.  Deborah said that she had shared that story before at a Fringe Friday event, but I had never heard it before.  Even if I had, though, I like hearing stories more than once to see what I get from them on repeated listening. 

The Art – Every performance artist is a storyteller of a sort, but when I use the word “storyteller” I usually mean someone who shares stories aloud in the oral tradition – i.e., tells the stories rather than memorizes them word for word or reads them aloud – in a well-crafted way, and who tells them as herself rather than pretending to be someone else.  There is no “fourth wall” between a storyteller and the audience.  Deborah is a master at this art form.  She quickly develops excellent rapport with her audiences; her pacing is comfortable, effective, and sometimes even trance-inducing; and her delivery, for the most part, is beautifully economical: no unnecessary “he saids” and “she saids,” for example.  At the performance I saw, there was one moment in the first story when Deborah struggled and struggled over how to convey the intimacy and animosity inherent in the two lovers’ breathing into each other’s mouths.  The struggle surprised me because it was so out-of-character for Deborah’s usually seamless work.  However, ultimately she did find the words to make us understand, and the struggle ultimately enhanced the portrayal of the characters’ struggle, so maybe it had been a conscious artistic choice all along.  At the performance I saw, Deborah wore a stunning white dress embellished with sparkly white appliqué’s.  She was not in costume, but she was dressed up, which made me feel that she respected the storytelling trinity: the stories, the storyteller, and the story listeners.

The Appeal – Deborah Asante’s storytelling style is warm, frank, and compassionately humorous.   I have heard her tell many times before over the years but it has usually been stories for children and/or family audiences.  It is a rare treat to get to hear some of her adults-only stories.  Vincent Howard’s music is icing.  He will be at all of Deborah’s 2010 IndyFringe shows except for the last one.  At her final show next Sunday, Deborah will share her stage with a “blues woman” whose name I didn’t catch.  More icing is that if you fill out a form at the end of the show, you get a copy of a romantic suspense novel written by one of Deborah’s friends, Crystal Rhodes.  It is called Sweet Sacrifice.

The Audience – The content of this show, at least the night I saw it, is earthy and definitely for adults only, but it is not x-rated.  It uses sexual innuendo and words like “orgasm” but not the “f” word (that I remember.)

“Phil the Void: Spontaneous Dumbustion” – ComedySportz.

The Act – L.A.-based stand-up comedian Phil Van Hest has brought another of his world premieres to Indianapolis this year.  The new material is a richly layered, pee-your-pants-funny story based on a specific and sincere spiritual awakening that Phil had recently.

The Art – At the performance I saw of this solo artist’s show, two very distinct forms of artistry were going on. 

On one level was Phil the performance artist working his gifts of language mastery, cerebral surprises, comic timing, physicality, and story making. 

On another level was Phil the compassionate and perhaps reluctant healer-artist (for lack of a better word) doing what he had been called to do in terms of energy management by the universal boss in that particular moment. 

A woman I sometimes (meanly, I admit) call the Honker was in the front row, laughing her signature laugh inappropriately loudly, long, and often.  Other people in the audience who don’t know that she is an institution in the Indianapolis theatre community were grumbling loudly about her distracting behavior, thinking they could influence it.  I have been one of those grumblers in the past.  I sympathized with both my fellow audience members and with Phil.

But I could see also see the Honker’s face and she was obliviously locked on to Phil, looking at him with such love and need that her laughs were like orgasms. 

I know from love and neediness, too, so I just watched her and Phil while still listening to, and enjoying, Phil’s surface show.

In the meantime, a man in the other side of the front row started texting someone about the Honker.  (I was sitting behind him.) 

Phil mostly stood in front of The Honker and, again for lack of a better word, was a channel for whatever divine energy was trying to feed her.  He delivered the show that he had come to deliver, and it was excellent, and he even managed to connect with the rest of his fans in the audience, but he also stayed fully present and judgment-free for that particular woman while she got what she needed.  Only when Texting Guy took out his phone and started thumbing it did Phil react.

“Are you texting her?” Phil asked the man, pointing to the man’s date.  “Because that’s less rude than whispering to her, right?”  Everyone laughed.  I was surprised at first that Phil would let the Honker’s rudeness go unaddressed but call out Texting Guy.

A little later in his monologue, Phil referred to cell phone usage causing brain damage.  He paused and looked over at Texting Guy, who was still thumbing the phone in his lap.  More laughs from everyone.

Phil came out of his story even more then to say, “At least he’s holding it down here…” Phil cupped his hands around his crotch, then grinned at Texting Guy and stage-whispered “Sorry! Sorry!” before saying aloud to the audience “…Where it won’t do any damage.” 

More laughs from everyone, including Texting Guy.  At the end of the show, I saw Texting Guy tell his girlfriend to wait a minute so that he could go up and shake Phil’s hand.

And only at the very end of the show did Phil acknowledge the Honker with words.  He said to everyone, “I have CD’s of last year’s show for sale.”  He looked at the Honker and said, “You’re on it.”  He laughed a little and added something like, “I sometimes wonder if you’re going to burst.  You remind me of a whistling tea kettle.”*  She just smiled at him, relaxed and satisfied.

Now would I prefer to see any show without the distractions of the Honker?  Yes.  But I can’t help thinking, also, that I have been her.  And Phil’s energy management artistry reminded me that many people have been compassionate with my neediness, too.

His artistry last night also reminded me of a conversation that he and I and a previous IndyFringe artist named Brent McCoy (aka Clown at Work) had on the back porch of the Chatham Tap last year.

“The audience is a beast that is on my side,” Brent said.  “If I treat it right, I can tame it.”

The audience was on Phil’s side last night, and they would have torn the Honker to pieces if Phil had let them.  Instead, he managed the energy in the room so that there was no blood shed and everyone went away with something good.

That, my friends, is artistry.

The Appeal – As I mentioned earlier, Phil shares with Taylor Martin the honor of being the only two performers that have been part of the 6-year-old Indy Fringe Festival every year from the beginning.  I don’t know if Phil-as-Healer/Channel will be part of every performance – he is, after all, just this regular guy from L.A. at the end of the day – but “just” his advertised stand-up comedy show is treat enough that it will be selling out by the end of the festival.

The Audience – Phil’s work is definitely for adults only, and only for adults that are not offended by politician-bashing, homophobe-bashing, sexual explicitness, the “f” word, the “p” word, the “a” word, and so on.  But beyond that, Phil’s work appeals to both men and women, to adults of all generations, and to comedy-lovers, story-lovers, shock-lovers, and philosophy-lovers.

The Indy Fringe Festival continues at six venues on or near Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) through Sunday, August 29, 2010.  For a schedule and more information about the shows, please see www.IndyFringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.twitter.com/IndyTheatre.

*Phil mentioned in the comment box for this post that for the record, what he actually said was, “You remind me of a teakettle in distress.”  I promised I would revise my “record” accordingly and have hereby done so, laughing again.  HB

My angel card for this weekend is Surrender.  I think this means that I am supposed to just follow my heart around the 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival this year, not necessarily follow my carefully-plotted out viewing plan.  It was fun to make that plan, but I’ll see what I am meant to see.

This is a good time to remind myself (and you) that latecomers are not admitted to IndyFringe shows, so clock-awareness is still important even when in Surrender mode.

The other thing that I have been thinking about for this year’s Fringe here in Indianapolis is my approach to “covering” it.  Part of surrendering to What Is is surrendering to the fact that a)  my main gig, my day job, is being a professional librarian in a public library and b) I love my day job.  Part of my day job…well, almost all of it, really, requires creativity, training, experience, skill, and talent, but at the end of the day it is not about making art but rather about enjoying, evaluating, and sharing art and information with other people.

Sound familiar?

So…I’m thinking that I will approach blogging about this year’s IndyFringe as a readers’ advisory librarian. 

In other words, just as when I read a new book, I will pay attention to artistic quality and ask myself questions such as: What works about this piece?  Which artistic choices were successful?

But I will also pay attention to what RA librarians call “appeal factors.”  I will ask myself questions such as:  Who would enjoy this piece?  If this were a book, would it be more of a beach read, a book club contender, a go-to book for reluctant readers, a read-alike for a certain popular author or series, a challenging-but-worth-the-effort literary piece, or something else?

By the way, if you want to read more about readers’ advisory work, I loved the recent article by Laura Miller on Salon.com on “The Fine Art of Recommending Books.”

Laura Miller quotes librarian action figure/RA guru Nancy Pearl’s four “doorways” – story, characters, setting, and language.  I am going to keep those in mind, but also be open to developing my own rubric for live theatre and storytelling.

Live performance art is different from written art, of course, and I am an oral tradition live storyteller as well as a librarian and theatre blogger.  I love that the performance storytelling community is beginning to embrace formal criticism as being a good thing for our art form, as discussed in a recent blog post on “In Search of Storytelling Excellence” by Illinois-based storyteller Sue Black.

I will keep Sue’s points, and the poins of the other storytellers she cites, in mind as I go about reviewing IndyFringe storytelling shows this week and other storytelling shows this fall and beyond.  (Have you seen the Story Theatre line-up from Storytelling Arts of Indiana?  Some very exciting tellers are coming to Indianapolis this season!)

Another part of what a librarian does is collect things, organize them, and make Useful Lists.  I have always embedded links in my Indy Theatre Habit posts, but this fall, beginning with the Fringe, I am going to add a list of related links to other reviews to the bottom of each of my own reviews.  That will be time-consuming but, I hope, useful to all of us, so wish me luck!  (And I hereby promise not to whine any more about the time it takes.  Some day this blog will be an online magazine, right?  And I will hire someone else to be staff librarian/researcher.  Until then, I’m it.)

Here is what I’ve read around the Internet so far about the 2010 IndyFringe Theatre Festival:

“Labels Merely an Illusion for Taylor Martin,” by David Lindquist –  IndyStar.com, August 15, 2010.  This is a wonderful article about our local transgendered magician.  Taylor has performed as Andrea Merlyn or one of his other personas at every IndyFringe since the beginning.

“Female Characters, Creators, Rule the Stage at the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival,” by Jay Harvey – IndyStar.com, August 15, 2010.  This article previews eight of this year’s shows with photos and mini-interviews.

“Indy Fringe Returns!” by John Belden – EastOfIndy.com, August 17, 2010.  John mentions some of his favorite returning Fringe performers.

“Local Celebrity: Matthew Roland,” by Amanda Kingsbury – Metromix.com, August 18, 2010.   Local bizarre playwright gives short, bizzare answers in an interview about his new Fringe play, “Bill and Erin: One Night Standards.”  Ah, Matt, you fascinate me.

“Too Bad I Wasn’t an Actress: IndyFringe 2010,” by Breena Fain – DoingIndy.com, August 18, 2010.  A Fringe advocate who made me laugh by addressing me (her reader) as “homeslice.”

“Indyfringe: Forty-eight Plays Over Ten Days = 280 Shows,” by Jeff Cox, with other Fringe articles by other Nuvo staff below it - Nuvo.net, August 18, 2010.   Some great preview stuff in this piece, too, including info about the new venue, Marian Underground.

I expect to add links here to reviews and/or blog post(s) by Indianapolis Business Journal arts editor Lou Harry and to Nuvo’s compilation of staff reviews mid-week, so check back.  Based on past experience, Smaller Indiana’s citizen reviews will be hidden where no can easily find them, but my dear readers, I will do my librarian best to share with you a link to them, too.  I can tell you right away that Pat, SI’s founder, sent an email to all 9000 members encouraging everyone to tweet about the Fringe using the hashtag #indyfringe, and that those tweets are for now looping at the top of the SI home page, so that is encouraging.

I will share links to whoever else writes thoughtfully about the IndyFringe this year.  Please let me know if I miss something that should go on this list.

If you are not already signed up for the IndyFringe’s daily e-updates during the run of the festival, I recommend that you do.  Here is the direct link to that sign-up page:  http://www.indyfringe.org/signup

Years ago, when I was working as a children’s librarian in a different library from the place I work now, there was a little boy who came to the library every day after school and shouted, “Hey, lie-berry!  How’s it going?”

“I’m fine, Gerold,” I would say.  “How are you?” (I actually don’t remember his name, unfortunately, but I remember his sweet face and the affection I felt in his name for me very clearly.)

“Got any good books?” he would ask.

“Lots of ‘em.  What are you in the mood for today?”

If you see me around the Fringe this week and ask me what’s good, that is what I am going to ask you, too.  Because performance art, like free-time reading, is a very personal thing and good recommendations must be, also.

But I will also encourage you to surrender to whatever show seems to be calling you to see it.  That is Fringing at its purest.

‘See you at the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabi.com and www.Twitter.com/IndyTheatre

P.S. “Librarian Avenger” photo above is by Erica Olsen.

I am back from my summer sabbatical.  Did you miss me?  I missed you.

I spent last evening tentatively plotting out what I’m going to see for the first five days of the 10-day 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival.  If you plotted out your Fringe weeks ago, you might want to double-check the shows and schedules on the Indy Fringe website (www.indyfringe.org) because there have been some last-minute changes.

I love the Indy Fringe.  In 2007, I received my first media pass ever to help cover the Fringe for Indiana Auditions.  Now I receive media passes year-round from all of the professional theatres in town to review shows for Indy Theatre Habit, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Fringe.

It is just such a great week!  As an actor friend once said, “It’s like summer camp for theatre people.”  He meant theatre artists, but it applies to theatre fans, too.  I love being in the midst of a wealth of creative risk-takers that have gathered from all over the planet (okay, from all over the USA plus, this year, Australia and Canada) to let us share their adventures in performance art.

And at the Indy Fringe, you can easily walk between the six venues.  This is not true of, say, the much larger New York City Fringe, or the original Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Also, you don’t have to plot out anything if you don’t want to.  Part of the fun of “fringing” is just going to whatever show strikes your fancy in the moment.

The Opening Night Carnival (also known as the preview night party) is tonight, Thursday, August 19, 2010 from 5:30-10pm in a big tent on Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indy, next to the Indianapolis Historic Fire Museum and Memorial, near the intersection of Mass. Ave. and College Ave.  I am sad that I won’t be able to attend the preview party this year.  It is a great way to “taste” the various shows.

The party is free if you go ahead and buy your $5 Fringe Backer Button, which you will need anyway during the festival.  You buy one Fringe Backer Button for $5 and then wear it the whole week.  That $5 goes to the IndyFringe organization to help cover administrative costs.  You show your Backer Button and pay $10 per show, and that money goes directly into the performer’s pockets after each performance.

I am curious about EACH of the 48 Indy Fringe shows this year, but even if it were possible to see all 48, I know I wouldn’t have the stamina.  I have plotted out 26 to take me through Wednesday.  After that, we’ll see.

Let the Fringing begin!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.twitter.com/IndyTheatre

P.S. – Photo above is called “Fringe Scarf” and was taken by Inger Maaike.

Dear Indy Theatre Habit readers,

How are you?  I am having a wonderful time on my summer sabbatical.  I am learning a lot about small business ownership, website design, and theatre journalism.  Mostly I am learning that I have an overwhelming amount to learn about all of this before I can take Indy Theatre Habit from being a solo blog to being on online magazine with a paid staff and paid advertising.

But it’s good to have a goal, right?  In September I will return to writing reviews of live theatre and storytelling shows in the Indianapolis area for this blog.  I am also going to just keep plugging along on my part-time learning path – and continue to save money to pay for the consultants, designers, and equipment I want!  I will also continue to trust that everything will work out for the best in its own best time.  I still love my fulltime+ day job, too, so maybe running an online magazine will be what I do when I retire from that a few years from now.

In the meantime, here is some news and gossip that I have been saving in my “for the postcard” file:

• You probably read on Lou Harry’s A&E blog for the Indianapolis Business Journal at the beginning of the summer that Priscilla Lindsay, veteran actress and the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, has accepted an appointment as Chair of the Department of Theatre and Drama in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  My press release from the IRT says that Priscilla is the first woman to chair the Theatre Department at Michigan. She will officially begin her tenure on September 1, 2010.  If you, like me, do not know Priscilla personally but have admired her work at the IRT, there is still time for you to leave a “thank you and good luck” comment for her on the IRT’s blog.  (http://blog.irtlive.com/)  Priscilla, if you happen to read this “postcard” post, I admire you and wish you the best in Ann Arbor!  Please say hi to my friend, Mary Morgan, publisher of the Ann Arbor Chronicle.
• Speaking of the IRT and career changes, several little birds told me a while back that Charles Goad, the actor that has played Scrooge in the IRT’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” for many years, has begun work on a professional degree in the culinary arts so that he can become a fulltime chef.  I wish Chuck the best, of course, but selfishly I was crushed when I heard this.  I loved Chuck’s always-fresh portrayal of that iconic character; it had become a highly-anticipated highlight of my own holiday season every year.  However, a little bird also told me that the IRT has tapped Ryan Artzberger to take on the role of Scrooge this coming season.  That is excellent consolation. 
• Ryan is just finishing a run of Neil LaBute’s “Reasons to Be Pretty” at the Phoenix Theatre (I saw it twice; it stirred me proper!) and he will be in the Heartland Actors Repertory Theatre’s production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” next weekend (August 6-8, 2010.)  HART is a professional company but the three performances in White River State Park will be free and open to the public thanks to corporate sponsors. More info is on both the HART website and the WRSP website.  Little birds have told me about some major upheavals and – pardon the expression – drama in HART’s leadership over the past year, but Ryan is a “destination actor” for me, and I enjoyed HART’s productions of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Merchant of Venice” in summers past, so whether the dust has finished settling or not, I’m going to see this show if I can carve out the time.
• Speaking of the Phoenix Theatre, “Pure Prine” is returning to the Phoenix this fall!   All I have to say about that is “Yay!” and “Make your reservation early!”  (See www.PhoenixTheatre.org for more info.)
• Improv teacher Dave Ruark told me at a party back in May that ComedySportz Indianapolis has been chosen to host the 2011 World Comedy League Championship Tournament next July.  How fun is that!  There is more information about the week-long event now on the www.indycomedysportz.com website.  Yes!
• One of my favorite playwrights, James Still, sent me a “happy sabbatical” letter that included an article about a staged reading of one of his new plays in the 4^th annual Telluride Playwrights Festival in Telluride, Colorado.  Here is an excerpt from the news article by The Watch staff:  “Love Me Some Amnesia takes place in a small town where buzzards feast on a dead Chevy, the local Wal-Mart hires only college graduates, and three men wait out the night in the company of a high school football trophy they’ve rescued from obscurity. It is a play that wants to be about revenge and glory and being a man – if only the characters could agree on what they can’t remember.”  Doesn’t that sound as if it is funny and moving?!  I hope I get a chance to see a production of “Love Me Some Amnesia” some day.
• Speaking of new plays, I appreciate that Ball State University student Christopher Swader sent me a detailed email about a new musical that he and several other BSU students and their professor, Beth Turcotte, have been working on.  It is based on Cathy Day’s novel, The Circus in Winter.  I love that book!  It is a novel of related short stories set in an Indiana town where traveling circus performers used to live during their off season.  It is fascinating.  I really wanted to drive to Peru, Indiana during Circus Week last month to see one of the staged readings of the new piece, but I couldn’t.  I hope to drive over to Muncie to see a performance of the full production this fall when it is part of BSU Theatre Department’s season.  More information about the project is at http://www.bsu.edu/thecircusinwinter
• Speaking of invitations to road trip, I also was glad to receive emails from Jake Allen Miller, Associate Producing Artistic Director of the Shawnee Theatre in Bloomfield, Indiana and David J. Loehr from the RiverRun Theatre Company in Madison, Indiana.  Even though I couldn’t get to either theatre this summer, I look forward to keeping them on my radar.
• Storytelling Arts of Indiana is running the 2^nd Annual Liars Contest at the Indiana State Fair in the Pioneer Village at 7pm on Friday, August 6, 2010.  I had fun being one of judges last year.  I am not one of the judges this year (‘sorry, I don’t know who the judges are) but I am going to try to go to hear the stories anyway.  What a great concept: just listening to stories for the pleasure of it!  If you want to try your hand (your tongue?) at telling, or if you just want more information about the contest, there is more info at http://www.storytellingarts.org/liars-contest.html.
• I appreciate ALL of the media releases and informal theatre-related emails that people have sent me this summer.  If you are one of those people, I hope you will continue!  If you stopped sending me your theatre-related news over the summer because I was on a break, I hope you will go back to sending it to me.  I don’t always have time or space to include every bit of news in one of my posts, but I definitely won’t include it if you don’t email it to me.  Please cut, paste, and tweak:  amarylliswriter at gmail dot com.

I have started pouring over the 2010 Indy Fringe Festival schedule, which is now up on the www.indyfringe.org website and which will come out in paper form in the August 4 issue of Nuvo.  I am intrigued by the mix!  More about this in another post, maybe.

I have also seen, enjoyed, and tweeted about seventeen shows so far while I have been on sabbatical.  My 2010 Directory post shows which ones.  Go to http://twitter.com/IndyTheatre if you want to read all of my tweets (including the purely conversational ones) but don’t want to join Twitter.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

(Photo above is called ”A Postcard from the Edge (in color)” and was taken by Abby Lanes.)

After thinking about it for several days, I have decided to take a summer sabbatical from writing Indy Theatre Habit.

I need some time to learn more about the things I need to know in order to take this blog to the next level.  I also need some time to think about what “the next level” even means, or if I truly want to go there.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below or email me at amarylliswriter at gmail dot com.

I have not forgotten about interviewing actor/director/playwrights Matthew Roland and Amanda Wing, nor about writing about the new performing arts center being built in Carmel or the arts center that is proposed for Indy’s City Market.  I hope that people will continue to share their theatre-related news with me.  (Speaking of which, congratulations to Megan McKinney, new development director for the Indianapolis Civic Theatre!  Civic is lucky to get you, Megan!) 

You will probably also still see me out and about at the theatres this summer, taking notes.  I still love going to shows and I am still a compulsive note-taker, especially when I hear a line I love.  However, any writing I do about theatre this summer will be private, just for me.  I will write again publicly this fall. 

 (Update 6-15-10 – I stayed completely silent about theatre for oh, maybe 48 hours after I wrote this post.  Hah!  Then I started tweeting (micro-blogging) again on Twitter.com.  So…please follow @IndyTheatre, if you like.  If you are not on Twitter but want to see just what I write, you can go to www.twitter.com/IndyTheatre.  I am also updating my 2010 directory here on Indy Theatre Habit as I see more shows.

But other than THAT I am not writing publicly about the shows I see this summer.) 

Last Friday night I went to a show and afterwards, as I was walking to my car behind a couple that had sat near me, I overheard the husband say to the wife, “Well, I’m glad we did that.” 

“Yes,” she said.  “That was fun!”

I think so, too.  ‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.