When Jason Adams was 18, his dad gave him the forms he had to fill out to find out who his biological parents were. Adams left the papers on his bedroom desk for six months, looking at them from time to time, but never filling them out before putting them in a drawer and trying to forget them.
“I think most people who are adopted are left with a hole, and even if they wind up with incredible parents, which I did, it doesn’t go away,” Adams said.
So what did he do?
The Indianapolis comedian used what little he knows about his biological parents (namely, that his mother was a horseback rider) to make a speculative puppet show for IndyFringe this year. Naturally.
“Doing a show like this shines a bit of a light on that hole. It’s made me feel vulnerable, but also making up a story about her has made my biological mom more of a person in my brain,” Adams said.
When asked what it’s like to bring something personal to the Fringe stage, artists used the word “terrifying.”
“When you share something this personal, you’re revealing a part of yourself that maybe even the people closest to you haven’t seen,” Helena Aleluya Jose, another Fringe artist, said. “That kind of vulnerability is powerful, because it invites connection.”
Check out these seven shows that feature personal experiences, life stories and more.
Horse Girl by Jason Adams
🗓️ Aug. 15, 16, 17, 19, 23 and 24
📍 The Basile Theatre at IF Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.
🎟️ Pay what you can (minimum $12)
Jason Adams has never met his biological mother, and the only thing he knows about her is that she was an equestrian rider. What’s one to do in that situation, but create a puppet-filled play about her and her horse rising to greatness in the Canadian horse dancing scene?
(Yes, there is a horse dancing scene, complete with ballet tights and a tutu.)
“Horses, triumph, heartbreak, a sea voyage, sexy blacksmiths, the Queen of England and, at the end, a beautiful baby boy—what’s not to love?”
My Left Tit by Brandon Roberts
🗓️ Aug. 14, 16 and 17
📍 The Blackbox at IF Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.
🎟️ Pay what you can (minimum $12)
Brandon Roberts and his friend Gwen Edwards planned to write a script together–a plan that was thwarted when Gwen lost her battle with breast cancer in 2016.
So, Roberts, who lives in Orlando, crafted a tale of Gwen and Omie (Gwen’s perfect dog) to honor that plan. In a way, the two did write the play together, as Gwen’s passages in the show were taken from her blog (also called “My Left Tit,” which was inspired by Christy Brown’s “My Left Foot”). Roberts wrote Omie’s passages.
“I feel Gwen’s presence every time I say the words,” he said.
How to Find a Husband in 37 Years or Longer by JJ Pyle
🗓️ Aug. 22, 23 and 24
📍 VisionLoft Mass Ave, 235 North Delaware St.
🎟️ $22 for adults; $16 for children, students and seniors
JJ Pyle plays both herself and her dad in this play, centered around a conversation she had with him one Christmas in his pick-up truck, driving over wintery Indiana roads to see her sister’s new house. The topic of the conversation? Some trouble he’d gotten into with the law.
Pyle, who’s based in New York City, said that if you’ve ever had a complicated relationship with a parent, fallen in love, had your heart broken, or had to break someone else’s heart, this show might just be for you.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my artist journey is that the thing that feels the hardest and the scariest is exactly the thing you’re supposed to be doing,” Pyle said.
Psalm 27 Club by Logan Stacer
🗓️ Aug. 16, 17 and 18
📍 VisionLoft Mass Ave, 235 North Delaware St.
🎟️ $22 for adults, $16 for children, students and seniors
This show—billed as a “cautionary tale of chasing fame”— blends comedy, poetry, preaching and drama to tell the story of Logan Stacer’s life. Stacer first wanted to be a basketball star, but when he realized he “wasn’t good,” he turned to the arts to find fame (although he still didn’t have a clear idea of what he wanted to be famous for—he just wanted to be famous).
Stacer, who is based in Kansas City, Missouri, said he looks forward not only to performing the show, which is directed by his wife, but also to talking with audience members afterward.
“Sharing (Psalm 27 Club) has been incredibly cathartic,” he said. “This show turns some of the lowest moments of my life into big laughs.”
You Will Speak Again, Kapemba`tona by Helena Aleluya Jose
🗓️ Aug. 21, 23 and 24
📍 VisionLoft Mass Ave, 235 North Delaware St.
🎟️ Pay what you can (minimum $12)
This is the “personal but universal” story of Helena Aleluya Jose’s life, from her childhood in Angola, a country in central Africa, to her two years attending United World College in Germany, to today, where she’s completing her senior year at Earlham College in Richmond, Ind.
Throughout her journey, she discovers her sense of self as a Black African woman in the world.
It’s a story, she said, about “searching for connection even when you feel like an outsider” and the “beauty of finally being seen.”
Comedy for Servers by Dwight Simmons
🗓️ Aug. 15, 16, 17, 21, 23 and 24
📍 The Blackbox at IF Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.
🎟️ $22 for adults; $16 for children, students and seniors
If you’ve worked in the service industry, this is the show for you. Dwight Simmons, who lives in Indianapolis, uses his observational comedy and quick wit to take the audience through the ups and downs of working customer service.
“I wrote ‘Comedy For Servers’ not just for people who work in the service industry, but for anyone who has ever stepped foot inside a restaurant and witnessed ‘Karen-like’ behavior,” he said. “Let’s have a laugh together!”
Up All the Nights by Lucas Waterfill
🗓️ Aug. 16, 17, 19, 22, 23 and 24
📍 The Blackbox at IF Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.
🎟️ Pay what you can (minimum $12)
Lucas Waterfill, who was born with cerebral palsy, balances comedy and drama while telling his story about navigating life with a disability—living in a world that’s not designed with you in mind. He stays grounded in his truth, “whether that truth is brutal or satirical.”
Waterfill also describes ‘Up All the Nights’ as a play of what it’s like to come of age in these confusing times. “Come out and see it if you want to laugh at something truly original,” the Indianapolis resident said.
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Emily Worrell is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor and Indy Documenters assistant editor. You can reach her at emily.worrell@mirrorindy.org.
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