The House with Two Doors
Performed at The Shop at Fort Fringe as part of the Wattage Series
April 13th - May 9th, 2010
When a beautiful runaway and a swarthy foreigner chance to meet by night in the streets of Naples, a cloak-and-dagger intrigue is transformed into a Renaissance bedroom farce complete with masks, swordplay, cross-dressing, mistaken identity, and laughs for the whole family.
THE HOUSE WITH TWO DOORS is a world premiere, ensemble-created comedy based upon a plot scenario fragmentarily preserved in the theatre papers of a 17th-century Commedia dell’Arte troupe from Naples. Faction of Fools Theatre Company—DC’s only theatre company devoted specifically to safeguarding and promoting the Italian Renaissance theatre form known as Commedia dell’Arte—began with this extant narrative skeleton and, through actor-led improvisation, put flesh back on the bones to reanimate a once-living comic masterpiece. The performers have rewritten long-forgotten dialogue and recreated the physical comedy routines that survived only in curt descriptions such as “Pulcinella does his lazzi of fear.” The ensemble of DC-based actors has spent five months training in the historical Commedia characters—young lovers, squabbling fathers, and bumbling servants—under the guidance of Artistic Director Matthew R. Wilson, who teaches at one of the world’s premiere Commedia dell’Arte conservatories in Reggio-Emilia, Italy. The characters are fully realized with the help of traditional masks, hand-crafted in leather by the world-renowned Antonio Fava. Faction of Fools' The House with Two Doors is running with two other original plays—Hoodoo and Yours, Isabel—as part of the first annual Wattage, a new performance series produced by Capital Fringe. Wattage runs April 12 through May 9 and features original works of theater that are examinations of the thread of self through explorations in global citizenship—tradition, environment, identity, and survival.
Written by the ensemble & based upon the Casamarciano scenario
Directed and Devised by: Matthew R. Wilson
Assistant Director & Deviser: Toby Mulford
Stage Manager: Ellen Houseknecht
ASL Interpreter: Lindsey D. Snyder
Starring: Vanessa Buono, Joel Reuben Ganz, Chase Helton, Michelle Tang Jackson, Toby Mulford, Denise Perrino, Graham Pilato, Annetta Dexter Sawyer, Laura J. Scott, TD Smith, and Rachel Spicknall
Scenic Design and Properties Coordinator: Mike Smith, Lighting Design: Zoia Wiseman, Costume Design: Lynly Saunders, Sound Design: Josh Taylor, Mask Design: Antonio Fava, Production Photography: Yuriy Zahvoyskyy
Running time: approx 75 minutes without an intermission; Appropriate for ages 8 and up.
DC Theatre Scene called The House with Two Doors
"truly inspired silliness performed with great enthusiasm"!
Read the full review HERE
The House with Two Doors
was Goldstar.com's "Roar of the Crowd" winner as the
HIGHEST RATED EVENT IN ALL OF WASHINGTON, DC!
The City Paper says it's "hilarious"—"topsy-turvy fun"!
Read the full review HERE
Read Capital Fringe's interview with Faction of Fools Artistic Director
Matthew R. Wilson HERE!
VIEW the Wattage Online Playbill!