House For Sale
Written by
Jonathan Franzen
Adapted for the Stage & Directed
by Daniel Fish
HOUSE FOR SALE is produced in association with
Shawn & Rob Flowers
October 13th - November 18th, 2012
The Duke on 42nd Street
229 West 42nd Street
Running time: approximately 80 minutes
There is NO LATE SEATING, and no re-admittance into the theater.
OBIE & Drama Desk Award winning Transport Group brings you the world premiere of HOUSE FOR SALE, the first of any work by National Book Award novelist and Pulitzer finalist Jonathan Franzen (Freedom, The Corrections) to be presented on stage. Gorgeously conceived into theatrical terms by internationally renowned director Daniel Fish (The Chocolate Factory’s A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again), HOUSE FOR SALE follows Franzen as he travels to his childhood home in Missouri to prepare to put it on the market following his mother’s passing. In the process, he is immersed in memories of his childhood, growing up in a place he once cherished. Exploring ideas of change, loss, and the value of the “quintessential American Dream,” HOUSE FOR SALE is a daring exploration of both the merging of art forms as well as the very essence of wrestling with one's past.
Make sure to watch exclusive inside rehearsal footage for House For Sale!
"House for Sale is a fascinating exercise...[that] delivers the essay word for word, embracing its inherent literariness."
"As you marvel at...Fish's underlines and highlights of...Franzen's savory, self-lacerating text...the words themselves hold your attention."
"As House for Sale moves forward, the actors shed layers of neutral clothing to reveal costumes underneath, suggesting the way characters on a page gradually take firmer shape in our minds."
"unexpected, exciting, and haunting."
"The five actors breathe new life into Franzen's piece that deals with family, coping, middle age, and the lie of the American Dream. The acting is transfixing."
"It's a hefty piece on paper, but House For Sale works beautifully on stage."
"It's a credit to the skill of Daniel Fish and his cast that the show is a work of art. It also provides a nice distraction for those of us who are impatiently waiting to see what the "Great American Novelist" will be releasing next."
"Fish has created a successfully light-hearted tribute."
"Daniel Fish directs a kaleidoscopic production."
"Transport Group's...enjoyable new work based on Jonathan Franzen's quirky essay, House for Sale, [is an] eccentric and fun theatrical presentation."
"A successfully light-hearted tribute...[to] Franzen's thoughtful, eminently relatable reflection on family ties."
"lyrical."
"a worthwhile ride."
"[a] mordant ode to the death of the American Dream for Generation Xers who have reached middle age, as well as a melancholic tribute to the Baby Boomers who bore them."
"[Stage] image[s] suggest a mixture of manufactured happiness, disappointment, and loss that compliment Franzen's prose."