Say 'Yes' to UWEC Players new show
We wish we heard about this earlier to give it the play it deserves in the magazine, but better late than never, right? The UWEC Players, whose quirkiness and renegade-ness have gotten deserved promotion from us several times before, have yet another first to their credit: their first adaptation of someone else’s work.
Before now, the ambitious group had done their own original works and experiments (24-Hour Project, living statues, haunted bus tour, improv, etc.) – many of them pushing the envelope of PC and personal comfort levels. Wendy MacLeod’s House of Yes, which they’ll present Sept. 1-4 and 8-10, is the perfect screwed-up play for them to tackle next.
If you haven’t seen the 1997 film adaptation with Parker Posey, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Tori Spelling, then this will be just a treat for you. It all takes place on a Thanksgiving weekend in the mansion of the Pascal Family. There’s the passive aggressive widow mom, the sex-craved younger brother Anthony, the mentally unbalanced sister Jackie (who wishes she was Jackie Onassis), and her twin brother Marty, who is trying desperately to flee his family in search of normalcy. His new fiancé, Lesly, is the character we’re meant to most identify with as she’s new to this family dynamic. And, boy, is it ever dynamic. Think of the most shocking moments of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and you’re almost there. Almost.
If you’ve yet to see this troupe in action, now is the time. This show is something very few theater groups would ever dream of performing, let alone around here.
House of Yes • Sept. 1-4 & 8-10 • Riverside Theatre in the UW-Eau Claire Haas Fine Arts Center • $7 adults, $5 students (Sept. 8 is :pay what you feel")
