The House of Blue Leaves Press Release

BASIC THEATRE COMPANY MAKES BBT DEBUT
WITH THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES

OCTOBER 21, 1994, SOMERVILLE, MA -- The Basic Theatre Company is proud to announce that its first show at Boston Baked Theatre will be John Guare's The House Of Blues Leaves. This well-loved show about a dysfunctional trio and the coming of the Pope to New York is a landmark production for Boston's newest professional theatre company.

Guare, the author of Six Degrees of Separation, has penned a winning piece of comic chaos starring a washed-up, wrung-out, would-be songwriter, his schizoid wife, and his less than logical girlfriend. As luck would have it, a number of equally wacky characters keep appearing in their apartment to wreak more havoc, and you never know who's going to show up next: the old friend/mega-successful Hollywood director; the glamorous movie star; the attention-seeking son gone AWOL; the cluster of nuns fresh out of the cloister, and so on.

Beneath the humor, however, there are also serious issues raised by this thought-provoking play. The House of Blue Leaves captures the flavor of the sixties, a time of transition, turmoil and opportunity. Success and bounty are the norm for most, but neither Artie Shaughnessy nor the two women in his life have found this to be true for them. Each member of this trio has unfulfilled dreams; how they deal with them -- and with each other -- is by turns laughable, illuminating and, ultimately, heartbreaking.

Directed by Jennifer Brown (producer-director of Boston Theatre Works), The House of Blue Leaves opens the seventh season at the Boston Baked Theatre, with its new resident troupe, Basic Theatre Company. After various productions at other venues, including the critically-acclaimed A Piece of My Heart at Charlestown Working Theater, the BTC now has a permanent home.

The Basic Theatre Company (BTC) is a new professional theater group whose mission is to bring high quality, affordable theater to diverse audiences. The BTC presents both classic and contemporary plays, while maintaining high artistic standards in all aspects of production.

"HoBl" Homepage | Production Credits | Play Synopsis | Press Release