Butler Theatre Presents Four Night of Indiana Plays

The works of nine playwrights connected to the Hoosier state will be on display Dec. 2-5 as Butler Theatre presents “Indiana New Works: four nights of play readings by Indiana writers or about Indiana…or both!” at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts, 4600 Sunset Ave.

Indiana New Works posterShows begin at 7 p.m. each day. Admission is $7 for the public and free for students with ID.

Here is the schedule:

Monday, Dec. 2: Three short plays

HARRY HOOSIER SPEAKS by Stephen H. Webb

Harry Hoosier was the first nationally famous African-American and, perhaps, the origin of the Indiana namesake, so why don’t we know more about him?

Stephen H. Webb has written 12 books and many essays on topics ranging from Bob Dylan and John Updike to the history of sound and the theological significance of dogs.

SPOTS by Jim Poyser

Spots imagines a world where the line between people and products has become blurred by the constant assault of advertising and marketing.

Jim Poyser, former managing editor of NUVO and editor of Indiana Living Green, is now executive director of Earth Charter Indiana. His 30 plays have been performed in Indianapolis, Bloomington and Chicago.

CORNFLOWER BLUE by Andrew Black

A teenage girl with a terminal illness receives a visit from the Make-A-Wish foundation to find out if she has unrealized dreams she would like to fulfill. When her mother learns that her daughter’s wish is to have a dream wedding to her boyfriend, it forces her to confront her own deepest fears about her daughter’s condition as well as unresolved issues she has concerning her own difficult marriage.

Andrew Black is a native Hoosier who ran away from Indiana for 30 years but recently returned to enjoy the moonlight on the Wabash. He has an MFA in playwriting from Ohio University, and his plays (many focusing on men who love other men) have been produced in theaters large and small across the United States.

Tuesday, Dec. 3: Scenes from two new plays

ELSIE & FRANCES & FAIRIES by Tom Horan

In 1920 a respected London magazine published an article about two girls who discovered fairies along with photographic evidence. Where these fairies real? Or had the girls tricked the public and the author of the article, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

Tom Horan is a writer, sound designer, co-artistic director of the Austin-born theater collective The Duplicates, and playwright-in-residence at The Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis.

UNDER A TREE AT THE END OF TIME by Dan Sherer

A new play, set in Indiana, about love and loss. Once, Jimmy dreamt that he was sitting under a tree in a landscape that was as big as the world, and there was no one else there, and it was still and quiet. And although there was a breeze, nothing at all seemed to move with it, because it seemed as though the breeze and the landscape were at different times and in different places, even though they were not. In that moment, Jimmy was truly happy and he didn’t want the dream to end. When Jimmy and Caitlyn arrived at her father’s house, which was a long way away, Jimmy saw that tree and he knew then that he would never, ever leave this place.

Dan Sherer is a professional theatre maker and doctoral candidate at University College London and was a visiting artist and scholar-in-residence at Butler Theatre during the spring 2013 semester.

Wednesday, Dec. 4: Three short plays

DILLINGER by David Hoppe

John Dillinger finds himself unstuck in place and time in this new work-in-progress by David Hoppe.

David Hoppe is a playwright, journalist and author whose work has been produced at Butler University, the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, by the Indiana Repertory Theatre and NoExit Performance.

CASTLE GARDENS by Gari Williams

Castle Gardens takes place in a small Indiana town in the year before Pearl Harbor. We see how the world begins to intrude on the lives of three generations of women and the young adults who frequent their family’s restaurant.

Gari Williams is an Indianapolis-based playwright, teacher, actor and director.

OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE by Matt Benedict

Two thirty-something men, friends from college, converse on the telephone, one having called the other to help process a turmoil in his life. The other, “because he is a good listener,” helps walk his friend through the crisis, touching on along the way (with alternating tones of seriousness and humor) grief and family and loyalty. And logic. And quantum mechanics. And Christianity. And Hinduism, and 1990s grunge rock, and medievalism and astrology and … everything that makes the universe spin. Including love.

Matt Benedict (M.A. English, M.F.A. Creative Writing, University of Notre Dame) resides in South Bend, where he writes plays and prose.

Thursday, Dec. 5

LIGHTNING AND JELLYFISH by Lou Harry

Set in a rock-and-roll poster shop in the ’80s, Lightning and Jellyfish takes a realistic one-set play and explodes it, taking us into the hearts—and futures—of its characters. It’s about an evening in the life of a young woman on the brink of change—change she’s trying to convince herself that she’s ready for. Realism vs. romanticism. Youth and frustration. Coming-of-age as a process rather than as moment. It’s about what we forgive in others and ourselves. It’s about making a connection right now. It’s about how to enjoy Human League without expecting it to be The Beatles.

Lou Harry is arts & entertainment editor for the Indianapolis Business Journal. His produced plays as author or co-author include Midwestern Hemisphere, Beer Can Raft, The Pied Piper of Hoboken, The High-Impact Infidelity Diet, and Going…Going…Gone.