An interview with the cast and crew of tragicomedy, "House of Blue Leaves"

The Union spoke with the cast and crew of El Camino’s production of “House of Blue Leaves” which will run from Friday, May 11 to Sunday, May 20.

Of those interviewed were: Allie Barnum, 20, theatre major, who plays the role of Bunny Flingus, director Jerry Prell and assistant stage manager Jeilana Fernandez, 22, theatre major.

What should the audience expect from the House of Blue Leaves?

BARNUM: It’s unlike any other play they’ve probably seen. It’s a bizarre combination of comedy and tragedy, but blended in a really beautiful way. Expect to laugh and maybe cry.

PRELL: It’s a tragic comedy, so it’s a dark comedy. It’s edgy humor. Thematically, it’s about humiliation, celebrity obsession and fame, and the death of the American Dream.

Director Jerry Prell watches as the cast rehearses a scene from the tragicomedy "House of Blue Leaves." Photo credit: Mari Inagaki

FERNANDEZ: A lot of comedy, but they should also expect a deeper side. All of these characters, though at first can look really shallow, can look like they have one dimension to them, have a lot of layers and a lot of, strong diverse points of what’s driving them to go forward in this play.

What makes the House of Blue Leaves different from other plays at El Camino, especially in terms of cast size?

BARNUM: It’s a smaller cast than we typically do shows for. We usually have bigger casts with more people in our plays and in this one we only have about nine people. It’s a different experience all together.

PRELL: This is different because this is the fourth show I’ve directed here, this is the smallest cast I’ve worked with. It’s a different experience because you’re not working with as many different characters. This is more of an intimate play, so it’s really great to have the opportunity to not have a scene with 20 people, but to actually have scenes with two or three people. It becomes more personal and I think that’s way the play was written, and that’s the story of the play, so it’s really special that way that they’ve chosen a show that has a smaller cast, because usually they try to cast bigger shows. Other shows I’ve done here have had 16 to 20 actors on it. This one has 11 characters, three principal and six supporting and then two are more or less cameos.

FERNANDEZ: We are a very small play. I know the past few plays we’ve done, including the musicals, it’s been a large crew, a large cast, but we’re very small and very close knit. I think this touches on a lot of more relatable topics like mental health, how mental health can affect relationships. And I think with the few plays we’ve done here, it really touched on that topic. I think with our current climate, it’s important that we touch on something, even if this play is a few years old, that it’s kind of relevant for what we’re going through today.

Cast members (left to right) Rita Chavdarian as Bananas Shaughnessy, Vaughn Page as Billy Einhorn, Allie Barnum as Bunny Flingus, and Jared Gaxiola as Artie Shaugnessy rehearse the tragicomedy, "House of Blue Leaves." Photo credit: Mari Inagaki

What makes the House of Blue Leaves different from other plays at El Camino?

BARNUM: The characters interact a lot with the audience. They break the fourth wall. We haven’t done a play at all like this. It’s a very unique play, I’ve never heard of anything like it.

PRELL: That’s an interesting question. It’s a tragic comedy. It’s not a pure comedy. It’s not a farcical comedy, though there is farce in it. So, it’s serious. I mean, there are elements of this idea of the things that we are still experiencing. The play was written, first produced in the 70s, and many of the themes are still relevant today. For example, our obsession with celebrity and also this idea of “What is the American Dream?” which I think we’re always constantly asking ourselves. Is that still possible? That idea of being able to make it if you work hard. One of the elements the playwright talks about is this aspect of humiliation, which he says is the core of comedy and tragedy. Humiliation definitely is a theme that runs through comedy, because we always like to see other people humiliated when it’s not us. We enjoy that. That’s an idea going back to the Silent Era and even before. You think about movies, you know, somebody slipping on a banana or stepping into an uncovered manhole, and being hurt and humiliated. We laugh at somebody else’s pain. Those are elements. I mean, the play takes place on the day, this is historically factual, that Pope Paul came to New York on October 4, 1965, so it’s a period piece that takes place in the 60s in Queens, New York.

Jared Gaxiola (right) as Artie Shaugnessy and Allie Barnum as Bunny Flingus rehearsing a scene of the tragicomedy, "House of Blue Leaves." Photo credit: Mari Inagaki

FERNANDEZ: I think what’s really good is the faculty we have here is really dedicated to what they do. The time frame of it, everything is, I don’t want to say “up to date.” If we have a telephone, we have a rotary phone. Tiny things, up to the costume, to make sure it’s up to date. Our director is really good because he wants to make sure all our actors have a good concept of what they’re doing and knowing what they’re talking about. It’s easy for us to do a play like this that has been on Broadway, and if your actors don’t know what you’re talking about, a lot of things could be misconstrued or the wrong idea could be present. Something with mental health, that’s a really big subject and something that a lot of people deal with, and how we handle it is very good. I think as far as we’re concerned, for what we have, the people we have, and the cast we have, the standards for how we go about it will be just fine. If everyone comes in with an open mind, ready and willing to listen and accept what the actors and directors are giving them, then it’ll be a great show.