Play premiers at Waldron

What if you were a painter and suddenly found yourself unable to paint? That's what Alex suffers in "Sunflower and Blue," opening this weekend at the John Waldron Arts Center.\n"Sunflower and Blue" strives to be just the sort of original entertainment that stands out from the rest.\nIn it, a young painter named Alex (Adam Fisch) finds himself in the midst of a creative drought. Despite his talent, he still lacks direction, inspiration and knowledge and thus cannot generate compelling artwork. Alex's mounting frustration threatens to drive him to distraction and drive away those he loves. His arthritic, cynical grandmother-cum-landlady Alice (Joss Marsh) berates him for his laziness. His sometimes-girlfriend Lilya (Kate Emswiller) tries to encourage him, but he knows that she simply doesn't fully understand his craft.\nThe key to Alex's awakening comes in the form of an oddball loner who identifies himself only as "Heironymous Bosch" (Ryan Gass). When "Bosch" commissions Alex to forge a Van Gogh for a rich, anonymous patron, Alex begins to immerse himself in the world of the famously eccentric Dutch painter for inspiration. Will Alex finally find his own path as an artist through Van Gogh -- or will Van Gogh's passionate insanity claim another victim in this young imitator?\nFisch, the playwright/producer/\nlead actor, is a second-year medical student here at IU. "Sunflower & Blue" is the second play he's written and his first play to be performed in the theater. \nThe cast is a diverse mixture of talent from all different corners of IU. Emswiller is a psychology/criminal justice major from Indianapolis. Gass is a communication and culture major from Mitchell, Ind. Marsh is an English professor here at IU with a doctorate in English literature from the University of California and the equivalent of a doctorate in English literature from Oxford University. \nFisch received enormous praise from the entire production. \n"Adam is especially good about trusting other people with interpreting his work," Director Brian G. Hartz said. "He understands that the play may belong to the playwright, but the show belongs to me."\nMarsh agreed with the sentiment.\n"Adam has been able to give away total control of his work to make it stronger," she said. "He understands that the other actors need to live the play, too." \nFisch said he views theater not as life-altering but as entertaining. He feels playwrights tend to get so wrapped up in trying to change people's lives that they lose sight of the entertainment value of theater.\nThe result of the cast's hard work in interpreting Fisch's play promises to be a riveting production with both with emotion and occasional humor.\n"Sunflower and Blue" is a cooperative production of The Dramatic Factory and The Bloomington Playwrights Project. The show runs one weekend only, 8 p.m. Jan. 25 and 26, at the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. To make reservations, call (812) 332-9577.