The House of Yes. Photo courtesy of Will Act for Food____________
Playwright: Wendy Macleod
At: Will Act for Food at Cornservatory,
4210 N. Lincoln
Phone: 773-327-9726; $10-$18
Runs through: April 13
You've got to admire the altruistic bent of Will Act for Food. Not only does this non-profit organization produce theater in Chicago and Boston, they also collect donations for area food banks. ( Be sure to bring a non-perishable food item for a discounted ticket. )
So it's with some regret when I say that Will Act for Food's production of Wendy Macleod's The House of Yes didn't do it for me. But then I'm not a fan of the play itself.
Most people know The House of Yes from its 1997 movie starring Parker Posey, the then-darling of the indie-film world. In addition to Posey's crazy-ass performance of the Kennedy-assassination-obsessed Jackie-O Pascal, the film is also brightened by Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze, Jr.
More crucially, the film is able to illustrate the imperious wealth and wackiness to the status-obsessed Pascal family ,who owns a Washington D.C., mansion next door to the Kennedys. This element gets lost when you produce the play on a shoestring budget in a tiny storefront theater.
Macleod's approach to The House of Yes also feels like she's aping the weird style of Christopher Durang ( but without the same level of cleverness or profundity ) . And, like Durang, that arch and mock style of comedy is very hard to convincingly pull off.
The cast assembled by director Scott Pasko do their very best, but there is a unifying spark to the production that is missing. Catherine Dughi does best dramatically as the unassuming fiancé, Lesly, who gets squeezed through an emotional wringer when she discovers her fiancée, Marty ( a very handsome Justin Speer ) , has been involved in an incestuous relationship with his mentally unstable twin sister Jackie-O ( Lacy Coil, who plays crazy as if from a prompt book ) . Andrew Jordan, as college dropout Anthony, drags down the comedy by being too lethargic, while Carrie Corrigan looks far too young to be the ever-drunk Pascal family matriarch.
In terms of what Macleod is trying to say with The House of Yes, she does point out that some families can get away with anything purely due to their enormous wealth and privilege. But why she has to drag in incest and fratricide is a head-scratcher.
Alas, Will Act for Food's uneven production of The House of Yes can't over come Macleod's crazy situations and frustrating characters. It's a game attempt, but that's it.
