Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

And You Thought Your Family Was Crazy

EMILY SIEGLER / THE HOYA

Just as we finish putting the holiday season and its sometimes awkward family interactions behind us, Nomadic Theatre has come out with a play that brings the challenges of family life to the forefront. “The House of Yes” opens with the character Marty Pascal, played by Ed Walczak (COL ’14), introducing his fiancee to his family. As he travels home to Washington, D.C., his family also frets about the meeting that is about to occur.

Though it may rehash unpleasant holiday memories for some audience members, the show is spectacularly well done, putting a different twist on a common predicament and exploring the challenges of relations among family members in a drama that provides ample opportunity for laughter.

The difficulty Marty Pascal faces as he introduces his fiancee, Lesly, played by Sasha Elkin (COL ’14), is exacerbated by his coming from a family of amazingly strange, complex personalities. His widowed mother always has a drink in her hand and does not shy away from voicing her opinions, including her opinion that Lesly, who works in a New York City doughnut shop, is far below the class of woman her son should be dating. Lesly’s twin sister, introduced only as Jackie-O and played by Sasha Wilson (COL ’11), is obsessed with the Kennedy family and actually believes that she is Jackie-O. Following her release from a mental institution, she is housebound and takes a cocktail of medications that she often mixes with alcohol. His younger brother, Anthony, played by Robert Duffley (COL ’13), dropped out of Princeton University to care for Jackie-O, much to his mother and brother’s dismay.

While the drama that unfolds eventually becomes very complex, revealing aspects of characters’ personalities that contrast with the ways in which they are initially portrayed, you can’t help but be amused by some of the things that come out of the mouths of the crazy Pascal family members. I laughed out loud as Anthony very seriously described how Jackie flushed his pet lizard down the toilet and when Jackie diligently applied masking tape to the family house’s windows, insisting that the tape would protect the house from an impending hurricane.

The play’s cast is small, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in both talent and in spirit. All of the actors spectacularly capture the essence of the characters they portray. As I watched the play unfold, I felt as though I were a fly on the wall of the Pascal family’s living room as the action occurred. The performances were very believable. The actors also did a great job of bringing out the humor in the personalities of their characters, which lent a welcome lightness to a play that would have otherwise been quite serious.

Part of the reason the play feels so realistic is that the scenery is very well constructed. It is clear that the production crew paid tremendous attention to detail, as nothing was overlooked in creating a set that, on the night of the show I attended, exactly resembled the interior of a D.C. townhouse. A living room with a red velvet couch, a table full of liquor bottles and a grand piano off to the side provided the ideal decor for the drama of this family that is so proper and yet so racked by tension and distress. Before the show, I overheard stage crew members worrying about whether the floor of the living room portion of the set was scuffed. This exemplifies the kind of attention Nomadic Theatre members gave to constructing the set for “The House of Yes.” The set enhanced the actual drama by giving a sense of place that will be familiar to many D.C. audience members who have strolled down the streets of Georgetown and peered into the townhouses lining the roads near the university’s campus.

One touch that seemed a bit over-the-top was the piano music in the background. While the intention was seemingly to enhance the drama with occasional music that fit the mood of the occasion, it was just a shame to interrupt such a realistic play with movie-like themed music.

In addition to its entertaining aspects, the play is also thought-provoking, raising questions about the mentally ill in American society, appearances and reality, and the ways in which family members interact. When a disturbing secret is revealed about the Pascal family, the characters find themselves questioning their moral convictions and whether or not the people around them are all that they appear to be. The back-and-forth that unfolds is captivating, and “The House of Yes” is not to be missed.

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