Performed by the Coda Theatre Project
My wife found a listing in the Austin Chronicle for Free Theatre nights around Austin, so Friday night we went and watched (for free) the Coda Theatre Project perform Wendy MacLeod’s The House of Yes at the very small play! Theatre Group theatre in east Austin.
The House of Yes was turned into a movie in 1997, staring Parker Posey (as Jackie-O), Tori Spelling (as Lesly), Freddie Prinze Jr. (as Anthony), and Geneviève Bujold (as Mrs. Pascal).
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When we arrived at the play! Theatre Group theatre, I was prepared for the worst — not just because of the look and location of the theatre itself, but because of the adage “you get what you paid for”, and the tickets were free…
The Coda Group players were Kate Meehan (Jackie-O), Pidge Smith (Mrs. Pascal), Cris Skelton (Anthony), Christopher Loveless (Marty) (Center), and Hallie Martin (Lesly).
The three female roles were extremely well acted. From the very first scene, where Jackie-O is taping the windows in preparation for the hurricane, I couldn’t help think that Kate Meehan was channeling Parker Posey — her portrayal reminded me very much of Posey’s performance in the film version of the play.
Pidge Smith, as the family matriarch, was the scene-stealer in almost every scense in which she appeared. If she were to show up to a Kennedy Family cookout, she would fit right in.
With Pidge and Meehan, it looks like the players were cast to physically resemble the film cast…and the casting of Hallie Martin as Lesly was no different. Except Martin appears to be a much more capable actor than Spelling.
The two male roles were not quite as strongly cast or acted as the three ladies — however, that might just be a relative comparison, as the ladies were so good. Whereas the ladies all seemed to be very comfortable and believable in their roles, the guys always appeared to be acting, and never seemed like they were the characters they were playing.
We were thankful to have seen the movie, so we knew the story beforehand. The Coda Theatre Project’s adaptation was not a dramatic departure from what we saw on film — which is not a bad thing, as we really enjoyed the film too. But there were some interesting choices which made it unique (they were striving more more realism than surrealism).
We enjoyed picking out some of the Coda player’s own interpretations or deviations from the film. For instance, the scene is set in 1964, one year after the assasination of President Kennedy. However, in the opening scene, Anthony is playing with a Rubik’s Cube while sitting on the couch (the cube wasn’t invented until 1980).
We also enjoyed the comfortable and intimate (read: small) theatre, too. There were probably no more than 20-25 audience members…which made the theatre about half-full. Thus, we were nearly sitting right on stage with the actors. And with all the kissing and half nudity, that wasn’t such a bad thing…
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The House of Yes is playing at play! Theatre Group from November 3 - 20, 2005.
Photo: Daniel Brock (Twin Lens Photography)
I loved this play even with the obsurdly bad acting men. I think it was even worse because they were not nearly as attractive as the guys in the movie. I also like that they played “Man Eater’ by hall and Oats during one of the scene changes. All in all, it was well worth seeing. And at a regular price of $10 a ticket I will definitly be recommending it to others as well.
Left by Sha-nay-nay on November 7th, 2005 at 8:08 pm