Press Coverage
House of Several Stories won the 2009 National Student Playwriting Award by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Below are articles on the play, the playwright (John Boulanger), and Texas State University's production, which performed in Washington, DC, as part of KC/ACTF in the Kennedy Center Family Theatre.
The professional premiere of HOSS garnered wonderful reviews from Austin critics. Below are also reviews from various publications.
Thursday, August 13, 2009 --Austin Chronicle
Arts Review: House of Several Stories
by Barry Pineo (re: August 8th performance)
The subtitle of this A. John Boulanger play is "a tragedy in two acts of nonsense," but it's been called a lot of different things. Should you attend – and take it from me, you should – in the program you'll find a note from dramaturge Kasey Korth saying that the play has been called "an absurdist comedy"; that Isaac Byrnes, who directed the first reading of the play, called it "a hilarious tragedy"; and that the author thought he was writing a "wacky comedy." Korth chooses not to categorize the play but says that, ultimately, "it is up to you, the audience member, to decide."
Well, since it's up to me, I'll tell you what I think it is: one of the few examples of purely American absurdism I've come across outside of Edward Albee.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 --Austinist.com
Review: House of Several Stories at Austin Playhouse
by Spike Gillespie (re: August 7th performance)
The costumes! The cleavage! The shoes! All at
House of Several Stories—and that was just the audience. Okay, so maybe a review-of-crowd is not pertinent to review-of-show except,
hello, this is Austin, where dressing up usually means wearing your newest Crocs and maybe a t-shirt with sleeves. So it must be noted that the crowd that showed up to take in
John Boulanger’s
House of Several Stories at the Austin Playhouse last week was dressed to the nines (times ten). As was—at least for most of the evening,
Lauren Lane, who, in the roll of Fuller Family Matriarch, Sue, sports some pretty fucking stunning duds courtesy of costumer
Jillan Hanel.
Saturday, August 8, 2009 --Austinlivetheatre.com
House of Several Stories, Imagine That Productions at Austin Playhouse
by Michael Meigs (re: August 6th performance)
Think Bart Simpson meets Betty Crocker on LSD, with a confident cast and decisive playwright/director who steer a comedy of infantile, broken characters through ambiguous plots and overlapping time to crisis and a touching resolution.
House of Several Stories, John Boulanger's MFA project at Texas State, had a reading at the university and played for just a flicker of time in early October, 2008 at the Blue Theatre in Austin. In April it won the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre competition for best student-written play. Boulanger's back in town under the aegis of his new company Imagine That Productions, and they have done up his script in style.
Thursday, August 6, 2009 --Austin360.com
House of Several Stories, Imagine That Productions at Austin Playhouse
by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin (interview with the playwright)
Austin playwright John Boulanger netted a playwriting award from the Kennedy Center before the ink dried on his MFA in playingwriting from Texas State University.
Now, that award-winning script, ‘House of Several Stories,’ is getting a fresh production with a stellar line-up of Austin actors. The show opens this weekend at Austin Playhouse. We caught up with Boulanger, who recently co-founded a new theater company, Imagine That Productions.
Monday, May 25, 2009 --Austin American Statesman
Texas State playwright wins real award with absurdist comedy
by Geoff West (American-Statesman Staff)
John Boulanger was in the fifth row when it happened. An older gentleman, dressed up for a Saturday night of theater, was near the stage, too. But his words seemed to echo around the Kennedy Center.
"No!," he said.
A character on stage had just dropped a baby — a doll — and the theatergoer was none too pleased. Boulanger, who wrote the play, listened in horror. "No!," he said again. And again. And again. Five times in all. "No, no, no, no, no!"
Monday, April 20, 2009 --The University Star
Theatre graduate student wins national playwriting award
by Morgan Wilson (Staff Writer)
John Boulanger was shocked to learn his play was going to be featured at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The cast of “House of Several Stories” performed for the final time this weekend in the American College Theater Festival competition.
“Winning this year’s National Student Playwriting Award is a huge honor,” said John Boulanger, theater graduate student. “One that I’m not quite sure has fully sunk in yet. I am still dumbfounded when I recall some of the names of past winners.”
To read full article click here.
Monday, March 16, 2009 --Newstreamz.com
Texas State playwright wins national award
Staff Writer
A. John Boulanger, a Texas State graduate student, is the winner of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival National Student Playwright Award.
Boulanger’s play, “House Of Several Stories,” was originally selected as one of seven productions presented at the regional festival held at Texas State last month. It then progressed as one of 56 plays from eight regions, and was selected as only one of four to make it all the way to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. This is the first time a Texas State production advanced this far.
To read full article click here.