Transport Groups House For Sale

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 10/17/12 at 10:35pm

I had the extreme displeasure to see this train wreck of a show tonight. The show is based n the Jonathan Franzen essay of the same name, and thats what it should have stayed, an essay. This was one of the most self indulgent and tedious shows I have ever seen. The gimmick of the show is that all 5 actors know the entire essay and a series of colored lights each corresponding to each actor are randomly changing, a nice theater tool if the material wasn't so dry and boring. Avoid at all cost!

[gravity87]

Posted: 10/17/12 at 11:30pm

Caught this last weekend and wanted to gouge my eyes out. I managed to fall asleep three times in 70 minutes. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. I feel horrible for that poor cast. Why this was ever allowed on stage is beyond me. This isn't even train wrecky fun. DO NOT GO.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 12:00am

No!!!!!!! I already bought a TDF ticket for tomorrow. Maybe I'll just rush something else and give up the $25.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 9:06am

Transport Group likes to take things outside the box, usually works but this one is a huge disappointment. I did not care for this at all. Boring, Lacking and monotonously repetitive. I too felt bad for the cast.

[marknyc]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 6:36pm

Saw this on Saturday - the worst part was the long opening monologue, which is repeated 5 times, once by each actor, as fast as possible. When the third repeat began and I realized I was going to hear it five times, I was ready to stand up, shout out, "Are you kidding me?" and walk out.

The idea behind the show seems to be to put as many obstacles between the essay, the actors, and the audience: playing loud music so they have to yell, making them run in place so they're so out of breath they can barely speak, having each of them say one word at a time so it's very hard to follow the text, having two people read the text with one delayed by five words so once again it's very hard to understand, etc.

So, the question is: why?

The answer for me: Avoid this show!





Updated On: 10/22/12 at 06:36 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/22/12 at 11:20pm

I gave up my TDF ticket because I did not want to have to sit through this.

Why can't they just do a straight forward adaption? I'm curious to see the show for the story, but I guess I'd be better off reading the essay.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 4:18am

Exactly, you gain nothing new from the staging then if you were to just read the essay, I really expected it to be a straight adaptation into a play but its such a missed opportunity.

[aaronb]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 5:38am

Ah, wish I had known this earlier. I already have tickets for Saturday.

[marknyc]

Posted: 10/23/12 at 7:36pm

Arrive ten minutes late...

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 7:25am

An unusual but complete misfire from The Transport Company.
"it is hard to understand the point of just about any of director Daniel Fish’s choices. Some of the stagecraft might be intriguing in and of itself, given a different context, a different text — say, perhaps, one more familiar and thus more open to deconstruction, or one more avant-garde on the page and thus more fitting for an experimental treatment on the stage. At the Duke, it is as if somebody gave the directive to make Franzen’s “House for Sale” as inaccessible as possible."
Jonathan Franzen, from Page to Stage: House for Sale Review

[addicted]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 11:06am

apparently others felt differently:

AP - http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2019515354_apustheaterreviewhouseforsale.html

Time Out NY - http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/house-for-sale

looks like it's a totally mixed bag from the critics. i think i'll check it out for myself.

[Lloyd321]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 11:35am

Apparently I am in the minority with my feelings for this show. I thought it fascinating. It is definitely unlike anything I've ever seen before and cannot possibly be compared to other mainstream plays. The Transport Group does some 'out of the box' and arguably fabulous productions, and 'House For Sale' is even a digression from their norm.

It is a piece that will get extreme dissension, which director Daniel Fish typically strives for, and will unabashedly upset critics and theatre goers alike. However, it is not a "42nd Street" or a "Mary Poppins", but a piece of theatre that makes you think and doesn't hand you it's themes on a silver platter. The text, cut down significantly from the original essay, germanely deals with the loss of a parent and the selling of that parent's house/estate. While cleaning out your mother's home, and meeting with realtors to see who can give you the best deal, and shoving old pictures into envelopes, into cabinets so potential buyers can't see any reminisce of your mother or your family is quite an emotional time in anyone's life. "House For Sale" delves into what goes through your mind during this time. You begin to think of your childhood, your family, of life in general, and what really and truly matters. I walked away with a chilling question driven into me by the man dressed as Minnie Mouse at the end of the show: what is happiness and why do we fake it so much?

I have gone off on a tangent and I apologize. The piece is not perfect, nor is it going to have you dancing in the aisles, but to me it does what good theatre should do: spark thoughtful conversation that my colleagues and I are still debating about this morning. I continue to have moments today where I am brought back to something in the show that makes me think a bit more. It's a piece I would want to talk about in an English/drama class and dissect it for a long while. It's not going to win any awards or anything, nor do I think it was the best thing I have ever seen, but it not a play one can either call BAD or GOOD. It will make you think. And days after will still have you thinking.

I am planning on going back to see it. So, if anyone on here is frightened away by some of these BAD reviews, I'll gladly take your ticket!

On another note, the acting is superb. It is a lesson in instincts to watch these talented actors deal with this bear of a piece...which changes every night for them.

[marknyc]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 1:41pm

But everything positive you say is about the text, not about the production.

I agree with the NY Times, and with most reviewers - Fish did nothing but obstruct the text and bore the audience.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/theater/reviews/house-for-sale-at-duke-on-42nd-street.html



Updated On: 10/25/12 at 01:41 PM

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 5:29pm

Mark
I was going to say the same thing.
Lloyd
I agree with you about Jonathan Franzen's "House for Sale." I thought it was a lovely essay. What was it that you liked about Daniel Fish's *production* that you could not have gotten simply by reading the text? (not rhetorical: I'm asking)
House for Sale Review

[marknyc]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 5:41pm

BTW, did anyone else think this?

"Panels with colored lights are placed around the stage; the actors supposedly take their cues to begin reciting the text from the switching on and off of these lights — one actor to each color — but it was pretty obvious that the divisions had been worked out before."

I definitely noticed that sometimes the light changed after the actor began speaking.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 11/8/12 at 5:30am

i know someone that works at the theater that has unfortunately seen this multiple times, the lights and cues are always the same.

[marknyc]

Posted: 11/8/12 at 9:54am

I knew it! What a joke.

[addicted]

Posted: 11/8/12 at 12:05pm

i have seen the show twice - it was absolutely different both times, so, PlayItAgain, whoever told you that is wrong. My understanding from speaking to people at the theater, etc. is that about 10% of it is recited by the same actor each night, while about 90% of it changes.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 11/8/12 at 3:54pm

^ um sir your definitely wrong, take it from my friend who has had to watch it 6 times now, it maybe changes 2-3% of the time to keep up the illusion.

[addicted]

Posted: 11/8/12 at 5:46pm

Thanks for the offer, but I'll refrain from taking it from your friend. I know for a fact that more than 2-3% was different from the first to the second time I saw it - I was there, I saw it, I heard it. So your friend can say what they want, but I know what I saw and heard. We can agree to disagree - I won't be responding anymore.

[marknyc]

Posted: 11/8/12 at 6:13pm

I would believe you, addicted, but I just can't believe anyone would sit through that piece of garbage twice...

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/9/12 at 12:35am

I'm confused. What changes nightly?

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 11/9/12 at 12:39am

since the show officially opened.... nothing except a word here and there.

[marknyc]

Posted: 11/9/12 at 12:51am

They claim that the five actors are each assigned a colored light, and only speak when their light goes on. The sequence is supposed to change every night.

When I saw it, I noticed times when the light changed after someone began speaking, and playitagain says it is all a hoax.

[ChanceEncounter]

Posted: 11/12/12 at 2:36am

Saw this Friday night and was absolutely fascinated. I certainly wouldn't sit here and recommend anyone go out and buy a ticket but I'm not unhappy I was there. It was a challenging experience. I had to tell myself pretty quickly to give up on understanding and just experience. And then remind myself of that several times. The opening and closing monologues worked best for me.

The strangest part for me was that i left with a huge smile on my face that didn't go away for a long time.