Clever Plot and a Wild Ensemble Make House of Wonders a Joy

By Gerald Roe
Photo by Paul Van Dorpe

ICCT - Kate Aspengren’s comedy opens with perhaps the most telling illustration of writer’s block ever staged. In silence, yet. I won’t describe it; it has to be seen. And so does the play at ICCT.

Holly, the writer, is played by Jen Brown with a sure sense of the frustrations and exhilarations that accompany the gradations of the writer’s plight, moving between the misery of her lack of productivity and the hopeful grasp at yet another failed inspiration. Holly is the successful author of a series of books about a peripatetic nurse who finds adventure in a series of career moves and exotic locations. Now she is faced with producing a book about her aunt, Myrta Jane Wonders, for a publisher’s series of books about our foremothers.

Holly and her friends Rachel and Chris (Roxy Running and John Bednarik) make a half-serious attempt to contact Myrta Jane with the help of a Ouija board in order to learn more about Myrta Jane’s life as a prosperous businesswoman in Alaska half a century ago. Holly and Rachel, a caterer of organic foods, employ the Ouija board while the wisecrackinig Chris, a reporter in pursuit of sensational stories and photographs, agrees to record their progress with the board.

To Holly’s surprise, their efforts to contact Myrta Jane seem to produce results. In a surprising entrance, Myrta Jane (deftly played by Kathy Maxey) appears in Holly’s kitchen. With the assistance of several other characters, Myrta Jane’s story begins to take shape, though her life in Alaska doesn’t exactly jibe with the sketchy accounts Holly has gleaned from her family. Myrta Jane’s real history is gradually revealed in her own words and in the recollections of her Alaskan colleagues, Eugene (Chuck Dufano), Cree (Kaitlyn McCoy), Garthlene (Jill Van Dorpe), and Juneau Jim (Rip Russell). Each of these character has a story to tell as the true account of Myrta Jane’s Alaskan adventure becomes clear. All of these characters are rounded out well by the actors, each of them making strong contributions to the plot and the humor of the play. Surprisingly, the visitors from the past are visible to Holly and her friends—not only visible but palpable in a wildly comic scene with Cree and Chris.

Holly recognizes the fact that her aunt’s Alaskan adventure will not fit neatly into the proposed series about illustrious foremothers and again experiences writer’s block. This time, however, she can put something down on paper,although Rachel confirms her opinion that what she has written is as dead as Myrta Jane. Nevertheless, a book is finished, thanks to the intervention of the Alaskans, and Holly’s publisher (voiced by Mary Ellen Chudacek) is enthusiastic about the book’s suitability for publication.

Aspengren’s characteristically clever plot and witty dialogue, assisted by the actors and Richard Tiegs’s direction, make for a very enjoyable evening in the theatre. See it if you can. House of Wonders runs through April 1st, 7:30pm Fridays and Saturdays, 2:00pm Sundays.