Hyperion Players’ Founder Brings Original Play to Stage

In its first year, the new Hyperion Players’ greatest challenge has been getting the word out and bringing in an audience.

“I think we’ve succeeded so far, but it’s a lot of work, especially because we’re not doing musicals or children’s theater yet,” said Noblesville’s Ian Hauer.

Hyperion’s next play, “Call Me Sister,” opening Thursday in Noblesville, is a historical drama set in Tudor England. It’s the story of Mary and Elizabeth Tudor as they vie for their father’s throne. It imagines what their relationship might have been like as sisters and how that conflicted with their ambition.

Hauer wrote the play, which will be on stage Thursday through Sunday at The Ivy Tech Auditorium in Noblesville. Tickets are $12.

While this is not the first time Hauer has written and brought a play to the stage, this is the first time that Hauer has written and brought a play to the stage for Hyperion Players.

“We want to feature original scripts as part of our seasons whenever possible, and we felt it was important that we put one of our own shows up in our first season, putting our money where our mouth is, if you will,” Hauer said.

“I was a European history major in college, and I’ve always been fascinated by the Tutor era,” Hauer said. “The characters virtually leap out of the history books and onto the stage.” The characters are far from boring, he said.

So how did he come up with the storyline? “I was reading in my living room when a scene from history sprang to mind: a young Elizabeth I in the throne room, all alone, imagining herself as queen. So I wrote a scene description where she approaches the throne, defies her position by seating herself on it, and whispers to herself, ‘God Save the Queen.’” He then built a story around that moment. His first draft took a little less than three weeks. But from writing the first lines to opening night, this play took a little more than two years to create.

A script selection committee will evaluate and approve applications going forward. But for Hyperion Players’ pilot season, the theater’s charter members got together and chose the lineup.

While theaters typically pay for rights to produce a play, this original play required no purchasing of rights from Hauer. “I may pursue licensing after ‘Call Me Sister’ closes, depending on the audience response. We haven’t explored anything beyond that yet,” he said. The only other play Hauer has written and produced was “American Brutus,” for The Attic Theatre on stage in December 2020 at The Ivy Tech Auditorium.

So how has Hyperion Players evolved since its beginning more than a year ago? “For the 10 members who founded Hyperion, a lot of the evolution has been figuring out our individual strengths and weaknesses and how to apply them to Hyperion’s needs,” said Hauer, who started the theater with his childhood friend, Adam Fite. “We’ve done a good job of that, but we still have work to do.”

Hyperion Players’ fundraisers have been moderately successful and have covered the cost of renting the venues for the first two seasons, “which is big,” Hauer said. “We’ve had dozens of individual donors help cover the rest of our needs.”

He has a few other projects in the works but isn’t planning to put up another original of his own for Hyperion in the near future. Next season’s original, “I Love My Zombie,” is by local playwright and actor Brad Staggs. “It’s kind of an ‘I Love Lucy’ meets ‘Shaun of the Dead,’” Hauer said. “I’ve read it; the script is very clever.” Hauer will be producer of Staggs’ play, set for June 6-9 at Theater at the Fort.

For Hyperion Players pilot season, two plays were at Ivy Tech Auditorium and two plays were at The Switch Theatre in Fishers. For Hyperion’s second season, he said, they’ll be splitting time between The Switch and Art for Lawrence’s Theater at the Fort, about 25 minutes south of Noblesville in northeastern Marion County. (The Belfry Theatre staged three productions at The Fort this season.)

“We’re happy with our arrangement at The Switch, and the Theater at the Fort is a great venue, though it’s a little further south than we’d prefer to operate,” Hauer said.

“But that’s the challenge in eastern Hamilton County at the moment. There’s a shortage of reliable venus for the performing arts,” said Hauer, who schedules venues 12-18 months in advance.

Hyperion announced its 2023-24 season in April and feature four shows by four different directors: “Waiting for Godot,” directed by Molly Bellner, Sept. 28-Oct. 1 at The Switch; “Doubt: A Parable,” directed by Daniel Maloy, Jan. 26-28, at The Switch; “Grand Horizons,” directed by Nicole Amsler, March 15-24, at Theater at the Fort; and “I Love My Zombie,” directed by Angela Staggs, June 6-9, 2024, at Theater at the Fort.  

Since Hyperion launched, the theater’s members have assisted Basile Westfield Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Indiana, Duck Creek Center for the Arts, The Attic Theatre and Underdog Theatre.

“Our actors come from all over the place and have probably worked with two dozen theaters in the area,” Hauer said. “We feel we have something unique to offer people, and we love opportunities to partner not just with other area theaters but any community-oriented organizations. We want to entertain and serve our community by telling all different kinds of stories.

Hyperion Players is producing “Call Me Sister” with the support of Indiana Arts Commission, and partnering with the Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County to offer free tickets to seniors.

Hauer said, “I want to offer special praise to the cast and crew of the show, without whom this wouldn’t be possible. I’m very grateful to each and every person involved for taking on the challenge of staging a show that’s never been staged before.”

MEET THE CAST

Mary, Duana Menefee; Elizabeth, Becky Larson; Christopher Hatton, Richard Cramer; James Locke, Joshua Minnich; Thomas Seymour, David Johnson; Thomas Cranmer, Brad Staggs; Northumberland, Steve Stone; Lady Alice, Renee Lopez; Lady Sarah, Emily Hauer; Philip of Spain, Jaron Hilger; Duke of Savoy, Bailey Hunt; Lady Jane Grey, Caroline Stone; and Doctor, Bill Smith

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times Editor Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.