Action Adventure
Through November 10, 2007
November 8, 2007
Posted by Followspot
Based on Episode 4 Only
What popular, local live theatre looks like. Top notch marriage of improv and plot. Way more fun than TV, this living, breathing Portland DIY soap opera has created its own niche out of thin air. The packed, young audience shows that if you build it, they will indeed come. Bravo!
11 comments:
Freakin' WOW! Awesome idea, excellent execution (can't remember a better ensemble cast, ever), House is the best thing to hit a Portland stage in decades. Decades. There should be lines around the block, offers of ridiculously high-paying gigs for all involved, and it should run forever. GO SEE THIS SHOW!! NOW!!!
Jason
Ok..so as my friends and I went to see this, we said, "This is what theatre should be...finish doing one show, off to another...what fun!" and we were so not disappointed. Great cast, fun late-night feel, and I can't wait for more. Ooh...a new addiction. Yummy. (-;
Jill Westerby
Just as genuine and funny as last season, but with new directions ahead. It's easy to get wrapped up in these characters' lives, root for them, and wince when they make bad choices. The scenes themselves seem a little more polished than last season, though the theme-song-sequence misses the crazy-speed-and-throughline of last season. But all in all, right on.... Can't wait for next week's very special Halloween episode and to see what the three as-yet-unintroduced characters will bring to twist the plot.
Thanks for all your comments! As a project that's still very much in development it's really interesting and useful to hear feedback, particularly comparisons between the seasons. Just a clarification, the "very special Halloween episode" is actually episode 3, the weekend following Halloween. We hope you can make it!
Yes, this show was a blast. Lots and lots of laughs and silliness from a cast that is confident, charismatic and quick-witted. Plot developments are integrated in a manner that is very impressive in its spontaneity. Friday show seemed a little long as there were occasional scenes where things lingered beyond the point where the comic potential had already been mined, but this is a minor quibble and probably just goes with the territory. All told, an exciting project.
Great episode two! The emotional payoffs were many and very well executed, nice to get a little deeper with these characters. It's so addictive, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or something. And, I know it's a busy weekend and all but c'mon Portland, fill them seats!
Go Team House!
Jason and Rachel
The second episode was the best yet! Just as many spontaneously funny and tense moments as before, but with even greater depth. A unique experience in Portland theatre.
The second season has upped the high bar set by season one. The weakest actors have been replaced by much stronger ones and the writing is much tighter. Both episodes so far have had me laughing so hard I cried and the improv-ed dialog is on par with the best around. Bravo.
though still enjoyable at times, the third episode was definitely the weakest of this season.
the cast didn't seem to be on the same page about what holiday it was celebrating and it made the big twist come off even more confusing than already was. also, instead of a sixth sense-like "wow!" the twist produced more of a "huh?" and that didnt change when you go back and think it out. (how about the tea cup??)
lastly, having watched the first two seasons, i have to note that the preponderance of douchebag male characters is getting a little tiresome. while many of the female leads are funny and/or multidimensional, all of the men slide down a slippery slope. it was no biggie for the first season but now seems like the writers are stuck in a rut
this show has too much potential to get bogged down with stuff like that
viva sam!
I agree the third week's episode was the weakest thus far, mostly because it strayed from its strength of relationship interactions in order to stage its eerie nod to Halloween, not to mention that the whole party (and therefore the perceived action) shifted to another (offstage) location. Still, it was fun, interesting, quirky, appealing -- and I'll be back for the final episode this week. Can't wait.
Episode 4 (or is it 8?) concluded a stronger-than-ever second season on just the right note, offering a number of different directions for season three (there will be a season three, won't there?). What's really interesting is not just watching what happens to the relationships plot-wise (which is also cool) but observing the nuances that develop, how they become fuller and more realized ... and real. And yet, unlike the glamour of a TV soap-opera, we can see our own lives reflected here -- or at least identify more closely in some way or another.
It's also interesting to note that the dialogue has flowed much more naturally this season than the first. From a technical perspective, I woud be interested in hearing from the creators what they attribute that to. Part of the appeal of season one was that those awkward fits-and-starts of dialogue often were just how conversations like those in season one would go (the awkward argument or confession, etc.). Does this season's fluidity (which I'm not saying is good, bad or otherwise) -- does this come from simply becoming more familiar and comfortable with the process? Or was it more rehearsed? Or was it more scripted? Or, perhaps, did you just have more plot and character material to draw on, so the cast naturally had more places to go within the dialogue, creating a more complex discussion, rather that elaborating on a simpler premise?
"Fall of the House" may not be as glitzy and glam as the big houses in town, but neither is it as blown out of proportion. This ensemble clearly speaks meaningfully from the heart and therefore resonates with those who yearn for authenticity and integrity and genuiness onstage.
Post a Comment