Now announcing the 2025-2026 Candlelight Theatre Season!
The Witching Hour | October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 & 25
Step into a haunting experience where historical and fictional witches and warlocks are awakened to share their stories. This progressive play guides guests from room to room through the historic home.
Who Stole the Naughty and Nice List? | December 11, 12, 13 & 14
Don your elf attire and travel to the North Pole, where your sleuthing skills will help solve a festive whodunit in Candlelight Theatre’s brand-new interactive holiday mystery.
Romance and Remembrance | February 14
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a heartfelt evening of music, wine, and poetry—perfect for sharing with someone special.
Choose Your Murder | April 24, 25, May 2, 3, 4, 9 & 10
Our signature spring production returns! Choose between the full-length suspense of Night Watch or a double feature of shorter mystery plays for one unforgettable evening of theatrical intrigue.
Donna spent her childhood and teen years in both New York City and Tulsa, Oklahoma where she was a young dancer, actress and TV model for a local teen scene show. After a hiatus from theater, she returned to the boards after moving to Indianapolis in 2000. In 2003, with the support of Phyllis Geeslin, she founded the Candlelight Theatre Company. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Tulsa in conjunction with the University of London, England. In 2012, she was a partner fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Her project focused on creating innovative art delivery paradigms of which Candlelight Theatre is a prototype.
Jim was born and raised in north-central New Jersey. He holds a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University, an M.S. in Differential and Developmental Cell Biology from Rutgers, The State University, and a Ph.D. in Medical and Molecular Genetics from Indiana University. In 2003, Jim retired from academia to fully focus his efforts on writing plays and acting. Candlelight Theatre has been Jim’s creative home since 2004. He assumed the role of Resident Playwright in 2006. Since then, he has directed, written the Ghost Tales series, the winter Holiday series, and some of the Spring short plays. He has written numerous versions of plays based on the real-life murders attributed to Nancy Clem, who was tried by Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis in 1868. Even though Jim has moved back to his home state of New Jersey, he continues to write for Candlelight Theatre.
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