House of Several Stories
House of Several Stories is an Absurdist comedy written by A. John Boulanger about "a dysfunctional family and their unusual Thanksgiving guests." The production explores how stories help people fill voids in their lives left by death, loss and dysfunction.
Production history
House of Several Stories received a workshop reading at Texas State University-San Marcos on March 26, 2008. It was directed by Isaac Byrnes, co-founder of Working Man's Clothes of New York City.
Cast:
- Mother—Stephanie Morris
- Bastian—Kenneth Hill
- Rissa—Leslie Monge
- Thom—Travis Hackett
- Young Woman/Abigail—Lindsay Hicks
House of Several Stories was produced at The Blue Theatre (Texas State University and The Search Party) in Austin, Texas, opening October 2, 2008.
Cast:
- Mother—Melissa Grogan
- Bastian—Travis Hackett
- Rissa—Ashley Rhodes-Meyer
- Thom—Kenneth Hill
- Young Woman/Abigail—Ragan Rhodes
Design and staff:
- Director—Jeremy O. Torres
- Scene Design—Vanessa Velasquez
- Costume Design—Abbey Graf
- Lighting Design—Chris McKnight
- Sound Design—Daniel Schaetz, Adam Smith
- Associate Director—Teresa Mikulastik
- Stage Manager—Lara Willars
House of Several Stories was remounted for a limited run at the PHS Foundation Studio Theatre in San Marcos, Texas, opening February 17, 2009. As part of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, House of Several Stories was performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on April 18, 2009, in the Family Theatre. Both productions used the latter company listed above.
Image That Productions produced the Austin premiere of HOSS, starring Lauren Lane, at Austin Playhouse. The show opened August 6, 2009.
Cast:
- Mother -- Lauren Lane
- Bastian—Martin Burke
- Rissa—Meredith McCall
- Thom—Adam Pearson
- Young Woman/Abigail—Kelli Schultz
Design and staff:
- Director—A. John Boulanger
- Lighting Design—Jason Amato
- Costume Design—Jillan Hanel
- Scene Design—Griffon Ramsey
- Sound Design—Craig Brock
- Properties—Jade White
- Production Manager—Shannon Richey
- Stage Manager—Jennifer Anderson
- Asst. Stage Manager—Kris Newby
Reception
The Austin premiere was well received by both audiences and critics. Austin Chronicle critic Barry Pineo found HOSS to be "one of the few examples of purely American absurdism [...] outside of Edward Albee."
Imagine That's production received six B. Iden Payne Award nominations from The Greater Austin Creative Alliance, including Outstanding Comedy, Outstanding Original Script, Outstanding Direction, as well as three Outstanding Acting nods (winning two--Lane for Outstanding Lead Actress and Burke for Outstanding Lead Actor).
The production also made three Top Lists of 2009; including Top 9 Theatre Productions of 2009 That Did Ascend the Brightest Heaven of Invention by Austin Chronicle Arts Editor Robert Faires, top 9 Most Memorable Locally Produced Live Performance Offerings That I Chanced to See in 2009 by arts critic Barry Pineo, and top nine — and then some — arts happenings of 2009 by Austin American-Statesman arts critic Jeanne Claire van Ryzin.
Imagine That's production was also nominated for five Austin Critics' Table Awards, earning Boulanger the David Mark Cohen New Play Award in June 2010.
House of Several Stories is in print through Samuel French, Inc. (2010)
House of Several Stories was produced at Harbor Playhouse (Corpus Christi, TX) in
House of Several Stories was produced at Central Michigan University (dir. Keeley Stanley-Bohn) Feb 2014. It won best Main Stage Show.
House of Several Stories was produced in London at South London Theatre in Summer 2014.
References
- Boulanger, A. John. "House of Several Stories: a tragedy in two acts of nonsense." THESIS: Texas State University-San Marcos, Spring 2009.