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The House of Yes
The House of Yes
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Author: Wendy MacLeod Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 59 Pub. Date: 1996 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822214725 ISBN-13: 9780822214724 Cast Size: 3 female, 2 male
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About
the Play:
The
House of Yes is a full-length comedic drama by Wendy MacLeod.
Meet the Pascals. A wacked-out, upper-class family stricken with
Kennedy envy, dwindling resources, and a fondness for guns. When
their first visitor breaches their bizarre household, they respond
with sex and violence. Their story is vile yet accessible, disturbing
and yet gripping, and ultimately presents a hilarious and menacing
satire of privilege, humanity, and love. The House of Yes is a
wickedly funny tale perfect for anyone who has ever fallen in love
with the wrong person.
The
House of Yes is set in 1983, 20 years after the assassination of
JFK, and introduces the peculiar members of the Pascal family of
McLean, Virginia – an unabashedly self-centered lot still obsessed
by the Kennedy clan. Outside their home a violent hurricane is raging
symbolically. Inside the Pascal house the storm of the century
– brewing since JFK's assassination
– is about to erupt. What happens when you grow up in a
house that only says "yes"? It's Thanksgiving Day, and
Marty's arrival home is greatly anticipated by his mother, Mrs.
Pascal, his Kennedy-obsessed, boundary-ignoring, twin sister,
Jackie-O, and his younger brother, Anthony. Marty brings Lesly, his
new fiancée. This ruins everything. Marty's engagement is a threat
to the well-being of this family and a greater threat to Jackie-O,
who has always wanted her brother for herself. On top of that,
Jackie-O has just recently been released from a mental hospital,
Anthony dropped out of Princeton, and their mother has a serious
problem handling any of this. This is also a family severely affected
by the Kennedy family, whose Virginia Compound makes them neighbours
with the Pascals. Mr. Pascal left his family on the very day JFK was
assassinated. Jackie-O and Marty made a game out of reenacting the
moment of the assassination, which became a sort of foreplay to their
incestuous relationship. So, Marty just can't marry Lesly! Jackie-O
convinces Anthony to try and seduce Lesly and steal her away from
Marty. Marty will then have to stay at home, which suits Anthony just
fine as he is immediately attracted to Lesly. The only way he finds
to seduce her, though, is to convince her that Marty and Jackie-O are
lovers. In a series of short scenes, Lesly spies on Marty and
Jackie-O doing their reenactment of the Kennedy assassination; Mrs.
Pascal catches Anthony and Lesly in bed; Lesly confronts Marty, who
begs her to take him back and away from his family; Mrs. Pascal
insists Lesly pack up and leave; Jackie-O pleads with Marty to stay
with her; and Anthony tries to convince Lesly to take him with her
instead of Marty. Finally Jackie-O goes over the edge and begins the
reenactment game again, only this time with real bullets. Killing
Marty with a shot to the head, she brings the play to a bloody,
conclusive end. The House of Yes reminds us that we all have
our secrets, some families just have more than others.
The
House of Yes premiered
in 1990 at the Magic Theater, San Francisco's most important and longtime playwrights' theatre, and was the
theatre's second-longest running show. It was produced
in 1995 at The Gate Theatre in London and became an award-winning
film by the same name in 1997, earning a Special Jury Award at
Sundance. The
play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and
workshops and has been performed in regional repertory, fringe
festival, college, and community theatre productions.
Cast:
3 female, 2 male
What
people say:
"The
layered thriller keeps its crowd at the edge of their seats, tickling
their naughty side and delivering satisfaction with its deliciously
climatic ending." — BroadwayWorld
"...A
fascinating blend of frivolous family politics and menacing political
allegory....It is wickedly funny, disturbing and vividly
written....MacLeod writes funny, frightening dialogue, and she
touches the nerve of our cozy, vicarious involvement with acts of
public violence." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Gripping,
funny and worth its reputation." — Time Out
(London)
"This
is a nasty, good black comedy that reveals how much America has been
warped since John F. Kennedy was president for one brief shining
moment that was Camelot." — Winnipeg Free Press
About
the Playwright:
Wendy
MacLeod
is an American playwright. She is Professor of Drama and James
Michael playwright-in-residence at her alma mater, Kenyon College in
Gambier, Ohio. Best known for the critically acclaimed Women
in Jeopardy!,
she
is the
author of some two dozen plays, many informed by what drama critic
Kevin Carr called a "spirit of witty and satirical,
female-centric humor."
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