Entertainment

A ‘House’ ready for foreclosure

Here’s the bad thing about experimental theater: It’s experimental, which means there’s a big possibility it will fail. Case in point: The Transport Group’s production of “House for Sale” that, based on an essay by critically acclaimed writer Jonathan Franzen (“The Corrections”), has the stale, avant-garde feel of a relic of the ’60s.

Stylized to the point of airlessness, “House for Sale” takes an emotionally resonant text and manages to suck all the life from it.

Taken from Franzen’s nonfiction collection “The Discomfort Zone,” the essay concerns his return to his Missouri childhood home after his mother’s death. Going through her possessions and dealing with a real-estate agent sparks painful memories of his childhood, including an unfortunate trip to Disneyland.

Daniel Fish, the show’s adapter and director, apparently decided the piece wasn’t strong enough to stand on its own, so he’s provided endlessly pointless theatrical flourishes. The text is recited by five performers, singly and in combinations, each prompted by different colored lights whose sequence apparently changes at every performance.

Sitting on folding chairs or walking the length of a long narrow runway traversing the stage, the performers tediously repeat entire sections of text with different vocal inflections and speeds. Occasionally a key line is emphasized, like the one describing the contents of the mother’s freezer: “Underneath the bass was a 9-year-old beef brisket.”

Sometimes the actors sprint or jog in place while delivering their lines, or sing them to live organ accompaniment. At other times, they change costumes in full view of the audience. One performer, while delivering a lengthy diatribe about the Bush administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina, is slowly dragged by her feet down the runway by another.

At several points, a large video screen displays seemingly random things: the bloody climax of the film “Bonnie and Clyde,” say, and photos of Betty Friedan and Angela Davis.

Granted, the production is technically proficient, and the performers — Rob Campbell, Lisa Joyce, Merritt Janson, Christina Rouner and Michael Rudko — go through their strenuous paces with admirable commitment. But despite the obvious efforts involved, there’s nothing in this “House for Sale” worth buying.