World premiere play by Lucy Thurber, directed by Chris Saunders, with a cast of six local actors, as American Lives Theatre's first commission.
The Meridian Cafe opens at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre on Thursday, October 22, at 7:30 PM. It's a world premiere play by Obie Award-winning playwright Lucy Thurber, directed by American Lives Theatre's artistic director Chris Saunders. The production runs through November 8 as part of ALT's seventh season.
The play takes place entirely over one autumn night in a fictitious all-night diner, inspired by the kind of historic Indianapolis gathering spots that used to dot the city. It follows several characters as they each face a private moment of change. The company describes the result as an unsentimental, vibrant portrait of a city's heartbeat and the fragile human connections that keep us going.
There's a local thread running through the whole thing. Thurber developed the script right here in Indianapolis, interviewing local performers about the meaningful places across the city that shaped them, and she wrote the roles specifically for a core group of six local actors: Ian Cruz, Matt Kraft, Morgan Morton, Lynne Perkins, Joshua Short, and Allen Sledge. It's also American Lives Theatre's first commissioned work, so it's a bit of a milestone for the company.
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The show runs at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre (705 N Illinois St, Indianapolis, IN 46204) from October 22 to November 8, with the opening performance at 7:30 PM on that first Thursday.
