Phoenix Theatre

The stars of the play “Grandmothers Incorporated” are exactly what the title of the play implies. “Grandmothers Incorporated” was written by a pair of local writers; Crystal V. Rhodes and Lily Barnett Evans, and it's about to be performed in Indianapolis for the very first time at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center. Sandra Gay, the director of the play and two of its stars – Betty Meriweather and Larry Keough – joined WFYI’s Ray Steele to talk about it.

Within the past week, a federal judge in Texas declared that DACA - the program that offers deportation relief and work permits to immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, was itself illegal. It's a ruling that will be appealed. But the people who benefited from the program - known as DREAMers - are also the focus of a play that's now on the stage of the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis. The name of the play itself is a phrase used as a lightning rod by critics of immigrants. The play is called Sanctuary City, and the main characters of the play are portrayed by actors with connections to Indiana – Seni Tekle and Diego Sanchez-Galvan. They spoke with Ray Steele on Morning Edition.

For the first time Indianapolis has a black equity theater company. The Naptown African American Theatre Collective was officially formed earlier this year. It's putting on its first full production this week at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center downtown.

Bryan Fonseca, founder of the Phoenix Theatre and the Fonseca Theatre Company, has died from complications related to COVID-19. He was 65.

From our Arts and Culture Desk, WFYI's Jill Ditmire spoke with Summits Artistic Director and Co-Founder Lauren Briggeman about the play "Detroit 67" -- that is set against the 1967 riots in Detroit, Michigan.