by James O’Barr
John Longenbaugh’s new play, Our House, opened September 5 to what looked like a full house — an audience of 14 — at his house, a “charming little rambler” in southeast Olympia that gave him, he says, “the venue and the inspiration” for the play. The result is, well, a charming little ramble through the lives of the house and its imagined inhabitants over the course of close to a hundred years. The venue, the house itself, serves as the stage and the set, while the theatrical inspiration for the play, its shining star, is Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.
As in Our Town, there’s a Stage Manager, played with easy confidence in Acts 1 and 3 by veteran actor Mark Waldstein. The Stage Manager serves as a guide for the audience, speaking directly to us for the author, and laying out the imaginal landscape of the play. Since Our House is set, not in the invented geography and history of a Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, but in the real and recognizable past and present of Olympia, Washington, the Stage Manager includes in his opening monologue a land acknowledgement that beautifully incorporates the very long history of the original people who made this place their home, the relatively recent arrival of us newcomers, and the fact that all and sundry eventually end up beneath the ground — with a nod to Forest Memorial Gardens, the cemetery just over the fence at the end of the street.
Seating for Act 1 is on the lawn, facing the porch, and we can hear music and conversation coming from inside the house. We are given to understand that it’s a summer evening in Depression-era 1934, and there’s a party happening. The door opens, and Callie (Jesse Morrow), a lovely, smartly-dressed young woman, steps out onto the porch. Apparently not in a party mood, Callie is soon joined briefly by Mrs. Whitmann (Meghan Goodman), the widow who owns the house, and then by her son Edward (Mathaeus Andersen). Edward has long been sweet on Callie, but her heart belongs to Broadway, or maybe Hollywood. Either way, she sees Edward as a friend, not a lover, until she confesses that she’s a friend in need, and … Intermission!
The Stage Manager explains that Act 2 will happen in the house, and he ushers us into the living room. There, as promised and as served before Act 1, are snacks and drinks (including “craft cocktails”), and a chance to make ourselves at home. The Stage Manager (now Mathaeus Andersen) brings us up to date, it’s 1989, and the house has passed to Jerry, the son of Callie and Edward. Jerry (Mark Waldstein), is making dinner for his long-time friend and sometime lover Amelia (Goodman), who’s visiting before her move to the Seattle area to take a job at Microsoft’s newish campus in Redmond. They are comfortably middle-aged, and we learn about their busy and successful professional lives, and about developments over the years in Olympia. We also learn about their contentious love lives, and the contentious politics of the day, and their differing views on just about everything. Still, as with Callie and Edward, and as with life, we are left to wonder what the future holds for them, as the Stage Manager invites us to take a break, enjoy some snacks, and move to the backyard for Act 3.
What the future holds for all of us could be said to be the subject of Act 3. The Stage Manager (again, Mark Waldstein) can’t help but speculate on this, of course, reminding us of all the unpredictable, inexplicable things that have happened since we left Amelia and Jerry wondering about their future in 1989. Now, out under the stars, in the present moment, we meet Bennie (Morrow), Jerry’s niece, and Daniel (Andersen), a young man that Jerry had taken under his wing. They, too, are wondering about what’s in store, what’s to come, until Goodman’s Amelia joins them to provide some perspective, some elderly wisdom and, for Daniel, an unexpected gift. In the end, before sending us off, the Stage Manager lets Jerry have, if not the final, then the penultimate word: “How different everything is from what I thought it was.”
The production is skillfully co-directed by the playwright and Bryan Willis, and ably stage-managed by Damon Hunt. The actors are not only skillful and able, but quite marvelous. Goodman, with many arrows in her professional quiver, hits a bulls eye here, bringing both the motherly Mrs. Whitmann and the strong-minded, sexy, and adventurous Amelia fully to life. Morrow, who’s done several musical star turns on the Minnaert Center stage with the SPSCC Theatre Collective, shows what she can do up close and actorly as the star-struck Callie, and would-be astronomer Bennie. Playing opposite Jesse in Acts 1 and 3, with a brief stop in Act 2 as the Stage Manager, Andersen brings a sweet, self-effacing charm to both Edward and Daniel. Northwest theatre mainstay and co-founder of SecondStory Repertory in Redmond, Mark Waldstein’s Stage Manager and his Jerry in Act 2 show an actor totally at home on the stage, even when there isn’t one.
Playwright Edward Albee called Our Town “the greatest American play ever written.” With less cred and more modesty, I said it was Longenbaugh’s “shining star.” Our House is not only a worthy homage to Wilder and his masterpiece, but a sparkly little gem of its own. The writing is simple and clear, and the characters and storytelling are believable and compelling. With the staging—unconventional as in Our Town, but with an even more daring metatheatrical setting and a very small audience—Our House breaks the rules in its own way, and enlarges what theatre can be. Clearly one of those things it can be is a more intimate experience. By all means find your way to Our House.
Photos by Tremaine.
WHAT
Our House by John Longenbaugh
WHEN
Thursdays through Sundays, 7:30 PM, Sept. 5-29
WHERE
Battleground Productions, Southeast Olympia, contact info@battlegroundproductions.org for directions
COST
$35 (Includes snacks and a drink ticket) @ Brown Paper Tickets
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6363567
LEARN MORE
https://battlegroundproductions.org/our-house-a-new-immersive-play/