House
Presents Truly Unconventional Theater
by Blake Rehberg
When
I went to see House on Wednesday, I thought for a second I was back
at Oberlin. The entire experience probed the boundaries of the traditional
conceptions of theater. I left with feelings of befuddled satisfaction.
House was staged at the Barbican Pit in London, a theater similar
but somewhat bigger than the Little Theater. The audience area is
entirely painted black and there is no raised stage area. In contrast,
the set was white and illuminated by suspended fixtures. According
to the program, the set is completely neutral, as it is an exact
replica of the wall of the building where they rehearsed in New
York.
The play and the script themselves are statements. In fact, the
acting would be better called anti-acting. Throughout the play the
actors remained in static positions, expect for a few points when
they fought, ate toast or practiced the bow and arrow. Line delivery
occurred in a similar fashion; all of the actors lines were
given in emotionless, monotone voices. Thus, it was shocking when,
at certain places where there should have been an emotional build-up,
each character broke into a song accompanied by tinny music from
a Walkman.
This bizarre, yet provocative brand of acting was apparent from
the start of the play. After several minutes of amiable audience
chatter, the four actors filed in from the side and stood motionless
on the stage facing the audience. Conversations stopped but several
people were still coming in at the back. When the actors looked
to the back with annoyed looks, it became clear that the audience
was going to be involved in the nights performance; the awkward
silence continued for several more minutes.
Finally, a woman standing on stage left broke the hush and spoke
in an invariable drone. Strikingly, she punctuated her speech often
with an elongated so or well. As the others
on stage joined the dialogue, it was revealed that the man and the
boy were her husband and son; they too spoke with the same lack
of emotion or movement.
The family continued, using dialogue that was utterly senseless
at points. When the son asked, Why dont you ever answer
my questions? the fathers response about racecars is
met with laughter from the audience.
Indeed, there was actually a lot of laughter throughout the play,
but peculiarly not much in the play was actually funny. More often
it was sad or just plain awkward. The laughter seemed to be motivated
by uneasiness as the audience sat there in view of the staring actors
waiting for some action or emotion to occur on stage.
It finally came when the other character, Mike, officially entered
the scene. Although he completed several monologues and made mutual
eye contact with the mother as she repeatedly retrieved and replaced
a plate of toast, he was not officially interacting with the family.
Soon, Mike entered and killed the father who we were led to believe
killed Mikes brother. The fight scene was the most animated
of the entire play, and they actually hit each other. Mike suffocated
the father and dropped his body in the center of the stage where
it remains for the rest of the play.
The mother and son then ran away as they walked to the
other side of the set. The son informed his mother that he was going
to return and get revenge. When she interjected that he was too
young, he reassured her and said that will be okay because a year
has passed and he has been practicing with his bow and arrow.
Another animated fight scene occurred, which resulted in Mike holding
the boy in a chokehold against the wall. He lowered his body to
the floor where it remained for the rest of the play. The mother
then accepted that she has no other choice but to live with Mike,
and the play ended.
Obviously, the plot makes little sense on its own and concludes
without real resolution. There was also no history or background
to any of the characters. Much discussion ensued afterwards in the
search for meaning in this play that is really about nothing. It
made me long for Oberlin and others who would appreciate such challenges
to traditional theater as much as I did.
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