It is a testimony to the importance and endurance of John
Guare as a major American playwright that this Obie Award-winning play, The House of Blue Leaves, was written in
the late 1960s and that his most recent play, Nantucket Sleigh Ride, is currently running Off-Broadway at Lincoln
Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater. In
between those years he’s written many award winning plays, a musical, and
screenplays. Guare received the
PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award and the Gold Medal in Drama from the
American Academy of Arts and Letters. In
effect, Palm Beach Dramaworks concludes its 2018/2019 season with an emphatic exclamation
point, The House of Blue Leaves
opening on May 17 and continuing through June 2nd.
The action takes place in October 1965 during the first
visit by a reigning Pope to the United States. Millions are lining up along his
parade route from Queens to New York City to greet him. Among the throngs will be zookeeper Artie
Shaughnessy, a wannabe Hollywood songwriter with big dreams and no discernible
talent, in the hope that a papal blessing will whisk him away from Queens, leaving
his mentally ill wife, Bananas, behind and into a new life in Los Angeles with
his girlfriend, Bunny Flingus.
With the Vietnam War constantly in the background, and
the hilarity of virtually every character vying to view the Pope, or receiving
a blessing from the Pope or maneuvering for a brief moment of fame, The House of Blue Leaves is a black
comedy, with farce and reality in stark, sudden juxtaposition. Guare, who also wrote the entertainingly bad
songs “composed” by Artie, has said that The
House of Blue Leaves is about “humiliation and the cruelties people inflict
on each other.” In spite of the
underlying seriousness of the play, we should be prepared for dialed up laughter.
Director J. Barry Lewis opined that “my challenge is to
bring the script to life by finding the comedy through the characters. It is a narrative story and while a farce to
an extent, it is not at the same break neck speed. It is more of a comedy in a field of the
absurd. This type of theatre is complex
so we generally sought out knowledgeable local actors, ones we’ve mostly worked
with before, so we could quickly ramp up. Our audience is going to have fun
seeing so many familiar actors in some unusual roles.”
He went on to add, “And don’t underestimate the
importance of the New York City scene, and the Vietnam era of the play. There is a constant state of anxiety and high
expectations of the Pope’s visit. It captures the American Dream of hope. The central theme of the hollowness of
seeking celebrity status is omnipresent.”
In that regard, its relevancy to today is uncanny,
celebrity worship, anxiety about our political situation, and hope for its
resolution.
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Vanessa Morosco, Bruce Linser, Elena Maria Garcia
Photo by Tim Stepien
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Bruce Linser, well known to the PBD audience as a
director and the manager of PBD’s Dramaworkshop plays zookeeper /
woefully-mediocre-songwriter-seeking-fame-and-fortune, Artie Shaughnessy. I asked him what it feels like to be on the
stage again and without hesitation he said “it’s good being back on the stage
and it’s a forceful reminder as to how difficult it is to be a really good
actor. I love playing Artie. Guare was
very mindful that comedy could undermine the character development. He’s a
fascinating and heartbreaking character and I hope to bring those attributes
forth so the audience will feel for him.”
Linser comes to the stage with an extensive musical
performance background so he’s very comfortable playing this frustrated
songwriter and performing his grade B songs. As he added “Artie’s musical abilities and
works are good enough to pass as songs but bad enough to be funny.”
The two female leads have names in the play which sound
like they were made-up by sitcom writer, Artie’s girlfriend Bunny Flingus
(played by Vanessa Morosco) and Artie’s wife Bananas Shaughnessy (played by
Elena Maria Garcia, her PBD debut).
Bunny is the downstairs neighbor who is pushing Artie to
move to California in pursuit of the celebrity status they both so desperately
want. Vanessa Morosco said “I love
playing the role of Bunny as she’s excitingly unpredictable and is subject to
fantasies. I also love this play, which has an incredible place in the canon of
American plays, with Guare entreating the close attention of the audience as
characters routinely break the fourth wall to argue their case or to express
their private thoughts.”
Poor Bananas, for whom Artie is seeking an institution to
take her off his hands, and release him into the dreams he has for himself and
Bunny. But Bananas has moments of
lucidity and insight as well as drastic mood changes. It is a challenging part, and has been Elena
Maria Garcia’s “dream role.” Why? As she explained, “I feel a very close
relationship to this play as I wrote my thesis on it when I studied drama. And the character of Bananas particularly
fascinated me as I was drawn by her innocence as well as being in the center of
a hurricane of action around her.”
The play has hilarious subplots and therefore in addition
to the three leads there is an extensive cast, featuring, in alphabetical
order, Irene Adjan, Jim Ballard, Austin Carroll, Elizabeth Dimon, Margery Lowe,
and Krystal Millie Valdes (PBD debut). Rounding
out the cast are Timothy Bowman (PBD debut) and Pierre Tannous. Scenic design is by Victor Becker, costume
design is by Brian O’Keefe, lighting design is by Kirk Bookman, and sound
design is by Steve Shapiro.
It promises to be a fun filled and thought provoking
production at The Don & Ann Brown Theatre on Clematis Street beginning May
17 through June 2.
Update: May 18 Review of the play at this link: http://lacunaemusing.blogspot.com/2019/05/dramaworks-scores-comic-and.html
Update: May 18 Review of the play at this link: http://lacunaemusing.blogspot.com/2019/05/dramaworks-scores-comic-and.html
