Oct 29 2012
A Different Kind of Haunted House
House / Divided turned out to be one of the more interesting pieces of theatre I’ve seen this year, and it’s certainly left me wondering where the future of theatre may lead us in the future. Yes, I’ll admit that when I read the insert in the program that said that we could use our phones to view some “Augmented Reality” during the show, (it was… interesting,) I had a PTSD-like panic attack of that video of Patti LuPone stopping Gypsy mid-“Rose’s Turn” because someone took a picture of her. That’s something you do not want to happen to you.
High-Tech Tragedy
The show was endless in spectacle, and if I wasn’t wondering if the actor speaking into the camera wasn’t trying to mimic a pre-recorded video or not, then I was trying to keep an eye on either the stocks floating above, or on the actors who managed to change costume in the blink of an eye. The details were marvelous – don’t tell me you didn’t guffaw when the repo workers took the actual kitchen sink out of the house. I loved it all.
I found the story triple-layered, using its pieces together to paint a fuller, more devastating picture of the reality of foreclosure and the faults of the housing market. The Grapes of Wrath “past” was the emotional angle. We saw the devastation of a family torn from the home that their family has lived in for generations. We follow their journey out West, and how the rise of corporate banking haunts them every step of the way. The “present day” storyline of the brokers, real estate agent, and corporate higher-ups reveals the business angle of foreclosing. While we still see emotional impact in the man who pleads to find a way to save his home, this part of the show deals with that other side of the phone call. Who are the people who work with statements like “We don’t own the deed to your house,” and “Minimizing human capital,”? The show highlights the “future” through its extensive multi-media usage. There’s no emotion in numbers and computer screens, and yet at times, that’s what seems to dominate the stage, especially if you did use the AR feature.
It was a fascinating use of multi-everything for a theatre production, and I don’t think it hurt the message at all. Even though the ending did seem to throw in a bit of optimism that’s all too familiar in American theatre, it was a thoroughly good show. Let’s just say I don’t plan on buying a house anytime soon.
I agree. The ending was pretty optimistic but I guess it was only to balance out how depressing the entire thing was. But don’t get me wrong, it was spectacular at the same time… just very sad. The worst part was that it seemed so real. It took America and showed it through a realistic and vibrant jam-packed show that left everybody with a strong sense of how our country has been and is doing financially. At the same time, it also showed the change of culture and how people are similar and different from past time periods as compared to now. I thought that was so great.
Your blog post was a joy to read as always and I love how many details you incorporate into it while efficiently letting the audience know your true opinions.
Next time we go see a show, keep an open mind and don’t be so pessimistic! 😛
I like how you view the media as a theme in the production. It becomes a character… kind of like the river in Huckleberry Finn. It really does highlight the future, but I dont understand exactly how it fits into your post. Meaning, what does the media have to do with foreclosures? We have the emotional aspect of it from the past and the real-time facts from the present, but what does the future add to the content of the performance?
I enjoyed your keen observation of the details and your remarkable sense of being able to relate to the theater in general. I also found it interesting how you broke down into three parts emotional past, emotionless future and the midway present. It reminded me of Max Weber and his critique of rationalization, explaining how rationalization of people will gradually lead to dehumanization in the future.