Photo Source: Ed Krieger
"The Yellow House" refers to the home in which writer-performer Burke Byrnes grew up, and his play is about, among other things, the destructive power of family secrets. When Byrnes was a boy living at home with his policeman father, mother, older sister, and two foster sisters, an event occurred that changed their lives forever. Because his father's salary wasn't sufficient to meet the family's needs, they rented out rooms to lodgers. One of these, a veteran of the Korean War, raped his sister.
Because his parents tried to protect Byrnes from the sordid details, he had to piece together the facts as best he could, and his father ordered, "This incident must never be discussed." All the family complied, but that did not prevent the sister from suffering from the ill effects of the violent encounter, becoming withdrawn, acting out, losing self-esteem, and putting on weight, which led to diabetes.
Byrnes is so relaxed and laid-back that he hardly seems to be acting at all, but his natural wit and sense of humor find comedy as well as pathos in the grim tale. Michael Kearns directs with a fine invisible hand that allows the events to emerge with seeming spontaneity.
It's impossible to synopsize "Hamlet" without making it sound silly, and the same is true of Harry Hart-Browne's "Special Delivery." The piece is clearly autobiographical, but Hart-Browne mythologizes his life into a whimsical allegory set in a world populated by fairies, angels, birds, and flowers. As he's an actor, he equates birth with being cast in a new role, in which he undergoes unrequited love, career failures, and being stuck in unrewarding money jobs. At every turn he's led and misled by his alter egos. These include his obstreperous and unpredictable inner child; a pessimistic, angry homophobe called Buster; a shy little girl called Little Debbie; a boozy, cynical aging queen; and a wise old codger named Walter, as well as a slightly bossy super ego.
The work seems to be about learning to integrate the warring elements of one's personality and the importance of preserving a sense of play. The script treads a fine line, always in danger of tumbling into a morass of the merely twee, but Hart-Browne's subversive sense of humor saves it with liberal doses of drollery and common sense. Director Mark Bringelson keeps things moving with spritely intelligence.
Presented by the Katselas Theatre Company at the Skylight Theatre, 1816 N. Vermont Ave., L.A. Feb. 24–March 25. "The Yellow House": Fri., 8 p.m.; "Special Delivery": Sun., 7 p.m. (702) 582-8587 or www.katselastheatre.com.
