The 2023-24 Wabash Theater season concludes with “Airness,” a loving homage to 80s hair metal, air guitar and unabashed dork culture. With a technically standout production, a stellar ensemble cast and a playlist of certified bangers, “Airness” is a must-see send-off to another great year of theater in Crawfordsville.
If you go see “Airness” (you absolutely should), the first thing you will notice is the unrecognizable room around you. The minute you descend the steps of the Fine Arts Center, you’ll see total transformation. The Experimental Theater has been lovingly transformed into a dive bar with posters decking every wall, audience tables blending seamlessly with the stage and an honest-to-God bar that will serve of-age audience members refreshing domestic brews. Almost every corner of the space is continuous with the world of “Airness;” Scenic Designer David Vogel and Scenic Charge Ben High ’24 deserve high praise for their attention to detail and creativity.
The show is blessed with a stellar cast, anchored by its ensemble of lovable pantomime shredders.
Kelli O’Neill stars as The Nina, the central protagonist and new initiate into the world of air guitar. Her grounded, naturalistic performance nicely contrasts with the colorful ensemble and positions her as the audience surrogate, learning more and more about a strange, wonderful subculture. This relatability then makes the crescendo of her arc all the more impactful.
Bennett Strain ’26 nails the cocky, newly-famous rockstar D Vicious. He never seems cartoonishly evil; rather, Strain plays up the thoughtlessness, portraying a man so caught up in his own reflection that those around him never even occur to him.
Jeremiah Clayton ‘26 makes a splash in his Wabash stage debut as Golden Thunder. Clayton arguably steals the show with his animated but natural stage presence. While utterly confident and commanding with his line delivery, he shines with physical comedy. There’s no doubt he relishes every note of air guitar, including the most out-of-left-field and outrageously funny solo of the show that must be seen to be believed.
Alex Schmidt ’27, who is quickly becoming a fan favorite on the Wabash stage, returns as Facebender, the eldest of the gang. Schmidt convincingly sells the verbose monologues of the Facebender persona, but makes ample room for vulnerability in serious moments. Schmidt and Clayton collide with electric chemistry, forming the comedic backbone of the cast.
Josh Campbell ’25 plays Shreddy Eddy, the air guitar purist and true believer in the art form. Campbell’s total sincerity is irreplaceable in a show with such a ridiculous premise, making the implausible plausible.
As the abrasive Cannibal Queen, Elizabeth Hutson eventually lowers her guard and brings a thoughtfulness to her shock-rocker character in a twist I was pleasantly surprised by.
Logan Weilbaker ’25 rounds out the ensemble cast as The Announcer, among other unexpected roles. Weilbaker never lacks energy, and provides some much-needed, often hilarious framing for the world outside the competitor’s clique.
Key to all of these characters and their sense of place in the wacky world of “Airness” is the costume work by Andrea Bear. Each shredder looks wonderfully distinct in their respective regalia, which create sight gags on top of sight gags. Bear’s costuming in her last Wabash production is irreplaceable, and a prime example of the high-caliber work she delivers time and time again.
However dynamite the performances and technical components, the script, while chock-full of funny moments, ultimately lacks real substance. While I greatly enjoyed O’Neill’s performance, The Nina’s writing was confusing at several points in the story. Her motivations for why she wants to compete in air guitar competitions are a complete mystery for the first 45 minutes of the show, clarified for a moment and then muddied again in the second half. That being said, her character also benefits from some of the best writing in the script, namely the intense scenes between The Nina and D Vicious which are again elevated by equally raw performances.
Aforementioned character issues aside, the script has strong moments that can be undercut by jarring pacing or the odd too-corny joke. While the conclusion of the first act makes for a dramatic cliffhanger, the script rushes through an awkward finale. The script whiffs in some places, but hits in others.
However, if you’re thinking this hard about “Airness,” you may have missed the point. The whole experience is unrepentant, weaponized cheesiness, and that’s to its credit. It’s not Dostoyevsky, but not everything has to be. “Airness” is a gleeful celebration of the dorky wannabe rockstar in all of us. Catch its final two performances in the Fine Arts Center Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at 8 p.m.
