Introducing: This Restless House

I want to tell you about THIS RESTLESS HOUSE, my next big theatre project. I usually keep my LinkedIn activity focused on my marketing work, but I am too excited about THIS RESTLESS HOUSE to not shout about it on every platform.

THIS RESTLESS HOUSE is a contemporary trilogy of plays by British playwright Zinnie Harris inspired by The Oresteia, a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus. It has never been produced in the United States.

Harris’s adaptation places the female characters at the center of the narrative and uses the ancient Greek notion of fate to explore and interrogate the impact of mental illness and trauma across generations. The language is astounding — Harris has turned the Greeks inside out. The plays are funny, violent, sexy, and thrilling in all the ways Greek tragedy is supposed to be, but THIS RESTLESS HOUSE is also an impeccably executes the triple axel of adapting the Greeks: relevance without conceit. This is not Antigone-but-with-flappers or Oedipus-but-on-Wall-Street, it’s nuanced, clever, and modern.

I’m working on this endeavor with my frequent-collaborators Jess K. Smith (ARTBARN, WE REMAIN PREPARED) and Erin Bednarz (Umbrella Project, many other workshops and productions). Jess K. Smith is directing Part 1, HATLO and Alyza DelPan-Monley are co-directing Part 2, and Paul Budraitis is directing Part 3. I think these folks are some of the most thoughtful and innovative theatre artists in Seattle, and I am so thrilled they’re on board to tackle this giant, imposing project.

This project involves an ever-growing circle of artists—at last count, over one hundred Seattle artists have been involved in the reading, workshop, and countless discussions we’ve had about these plays in the past two years. Our next step in the process is to hold what I’ve affectionately dubbed out Flight Test: two back-to-back readings of all three plays to test out some hypotheses about casting. We want to learn where can we double cast the same actor across two or more roles, how we can mess with gender and age to make the doubling work, and so forth. It’s going to be about ten hours of work for our actors, and more for our three directors. We believe that the artists involved should be paid for this work. To pay each artist $100 for both days (or about $12.50/hour), we need to raise $3000 in the next two weeks.

 Here's the ask: to bring this powerful new work to life and to pay professional actors and directors for their time, I need your support. We’re raising $3000, and I would be so grateful if you’d contribute at thisrestlesshouse.com/kickstarter. 

Time is short: due to a lot of busy schedules, we need to hold the Flight Test readings on September 15 and 16. Would you consider making a contribution? Any amount would be greatly appreciated — and as thanks for your donation, you’ll be invited to the invite-only readings.

For more information please visit our page on Kickstarter (This Restless House), or message me here—but be forewarned: this is one of my favorite projects to talk about!