Thursday, February 26, 2009

Who Will Survive THE QUESTION HOUSE?

What if I were to tell you about a mysterious house in which the only rule is that, once inside, you must phrase all speech in the form of a question?

Would you believe that if you failed to end your sentences with question marks, you would be instantly struck down by the Hand of God?

Could you conceive of living and working in such a house, tiptoeing through life in constant fear of facing God's wrath?

Could you... um... okay, this is a lot harder than it sounds -- which makes THE QUESTION HOUSE, the darkly-hilarious, award-winning play written by my friend (and DEATHLY HALLOWS midnight madness companion!), Tara Dairman, all the more impressive. I saw it last night as part of the FRIGID New York Festival, and I can honestly and unbiasedly say that it is 40 minutes of high entertainment.

Touching on themes of faith, the power of language and communication, and some good, old fashioned Jewish guilt, the play moves along at a brisk pace, with snappy writing that never feels gimmicky. You'll find yourself paying close attention to the dialogue, keeping tabs on all those inquiries, wondering who will slip up and how. The play features great characters, excellent acting, and as a bonus, perhaps the most clever use of Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" (not to mention the final chord of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life"... yeah, I caught that!) that I've ever heard.

If you're in NYC over the next week and a half and enjoy some damn fine thee-ay-ter every now and then, as I do, won't you check this one out? And wouldn't it behoove you to visit the official website -- http://www.frigidnewyork.info/shows03/Qhouse.html -- for showtimes, location and all that necessary info? (Okay, I'll stop that now... or will I?)

No comments:

Post a Comment