Familial bonds and societal norms are tested in the play "House of Yes," written by Wendy MacLeod, premiering tonight at Ball State University's Strother Theatre.
Audiences may know "House of Yes" from a film in 1997. The movie version starred Parker Posey, Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze Jr.
The plot revolves around the Pascals, a wealthy family with dark secrets.-áMarty Pascal (Dan Cesar) reveals that he is engaged to-áLesly (Lindsey Zelli) when he brings her-áhome for Thanksgiving.-áMarty's sister, Jackie (Grace Rex), is excited for her brother's return, but not for-áthe engagement.-áJackie is mentally unstable, which is exemplified by her obsession with the Kennedy family (she prefers to be called Jackie-O). She also has a larger obsession with her brother Marty.
"The play blurs the line between crazy and normal," director Anthony Sirk said. "The characters have a warped sense of reality, but they don't realize it."
Sirk said there are aspects of love and desire-ábetween Jackie-O and Marty, and a larger desire for things they can't have.
Sirk said that he chose this play because it explores what happens when someone lives in a world of privilege and how that affects-áthe person's upbringing and outlook on society.
To combat the dark subject matter of the play, the cast joked during the four weeks of rehearsals.-á
"The show is so dark that you almost have to joke about it," Cesar said. He said audiences are going to laugh watching the play, then wonder if they should be laughing.
Sirk said there were no bad moments during rehearsal.
On top of having a light-hearted atmosphere, rehearsals allowed the actors to explore and discover things about their characters. Cesar said that he had never worked with Sirk before and had no idea what kind of director he was. He was glad to find out Sirk-áwas willing to let him try anything with his character.
Sirk emphasized the importance of fun rehearsals, he said.
"To me, if the process isn't fun, the final product isn't worth doing," he said.
"House of Yes" runs Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. and Sept. 20 through 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available to the general public for $8.50 and to Ball State students for $6.50.
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