Ixion delves into memory; Riverwalk Theatre calls for young playwrights

Ixion kicks off the new season with Nick Payne’s cerebral exploration of personality, memory and identity.

Directed by Heath Sartorius, Payne’s “Incognito” asks whether we are born with an inherent personality or if we are a collection of our thoughts and memories. He mixes in neuroscience, amnesia, and the theft of Albert Einstein’s brain.

The show runs 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Sept. 16-24 at Lansing Mall’s west wing (look for the signs near the LensCrafters entrance). Tickets are $15 at the door or available at https://our.show/ixionincognito.

Actors Doak Bloss, Kate Clark, Edward Heldt and Gini Larson perform 20 different roles telling three stories over several decades.

The first story is of Henry, a mild-mannered English pianist who, after an operation intended to cure his epilepsy, loses his short-term memory. The second is Martha, a neuroscientist who envies the amnesiac patients she cares for as she tries to figure out her own identity and Thomas, a pathologist who stole the brain of Einstein and has devoted his life to finding the physical evidence of genius.

All these neurodiverse characters have a fleeting grasp on reality, which is reproduced for the audience by the actors assuming new identities from moment to moment. The show is fiction, but based on true stories, according to Payne.

An exploration of the brain and how it contributes to who we are, Martha at one point explains to her lover, Patricia, “Our brains are constantly, exhaustively working overtime to deliver the illusion that we’re in control, but we’re not. The brain builds a narrative to steady us from moment to moment, but it’s ultimately an illusion. There is no me, there is no you, and there is certainly no self; we are divided and discontinuous and constantly being duped. The brain is a story-telling machine and it’s really, really good at fooling us.”

Ixion is ready to use this storytelling device to delight and challenge Lansing audiences.

Act II: Riverwalk invites students to playwriting competition

Lansing-area students — sharpen your pencils or warm-up your keyboard, Riverwalk Theatre wants to hear your stories.

At the beginning of this month, Riverwalk Theatre launched a new competition for students grades 9-12 in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties. They are looking for students to submit short one-act plays. Five of those plays will be chosen for production and each author will win a $1,000 prize. Three scripts will be presented as staged readings and two will be presented as full productions.

Applications are now available, and submissions will be accepted until Feb. 6, 2023. In the next few months, Riverwalk will announce free student playwriting workshops.

To submit a play, the student must be sponsored by a teacher who will be a liaison between the student and the Emerging Playwrights committee members. All submissions must be original work, and the student can choose any theme or subject. Each script must contain one to four characters and be 12 pages maximum (using Arial 12 pt. font and 1” margins).

Former Lansing business owner Gordon Masters donated the funds to make this competition possible.

“There is a lot of talent out there in our high schools,” said Tom Ferris, a member of the Emerging Playwrights committee. “We at Riverwalk Theatre are excited to give area high school students a chance to show off their work.”

Encore!

• Oakland, Calif.-based touring artists Evie Ladin and Keith Terry will appear at Lansing’s Ten Pound Fiddle on Friday, Sept. 16. They will also lead a Clawhammer Banjo Workshop on Saturday, Sept. 17. Their concert is a blend of original folk songs and deep interpretations of old songs with the kinetic thrill of percussive dance.

• Riverwalk is holding auditions for “A Year with Frog & Toad” on Sept. 11 and 12. Show dates for the musical will be Dec. 8-18. There are 20 roles for adult performers and 2-3 roles for performers age 9-12.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ixion's new season features Incognito; Riverwalk seeks playwrights