On Summer Reading: In a Dark Dark House

A little while back, I gave my reflections on Neil LaBute's Mercy Seat. I respect the man's skills quite a bit, and shortly after reading that play, I read another of his works, In a Dark Dark House. This play, like all of LaBute's that I have read, gives as look at the darker side of human nature.

The play opens in the garden of an up-scale asylum. Terry has come to visit on his younger brother Drew's request. It turns out that Drew was committed for court recommended therapy following a nervous break-down which, through therapy, Drew has discovered to be the result of repressed trauma caused by a childhood encounter with a young drifter named Todd Astin who was familiar with their family and violated him. The doctors require Terry's testimony that this person did exist and that Drew is not merely attributing the deeds of a family member to a fiction of his own mind. The brother's do not get along well and argue a great deal, but Terry finally agrees to provide the testimony. Drew thanks him and exits, but Terry lingers for a moment and the scene closes with him hurling a vacant wheelchair offstage in an surprising show of rage.

The next scene opens with Terry playing miniature golf at a small spot off of the highway. He strikes up a conversation with a young girl who is working there, the owner's teenage daughter. They begin flirting and wind up kissing. They continue talking and eventually make a bet on a putt that the loser must do whatever the winner says. Terry wins and the two of them go off together. It can only be assumed that that Terry's prize was sexual.

The third and final scene takes place on the porch of Drew's house. Based on Terry's testimony, he has been released from the ward and the party is to celebrate the court's release. As they talk, still not getting along, Terry admits that he tracked down Todd Astin and saw him, but that the man did not recognize him. Terry also tells Drew that Todd owns a miniature golf course and that he now has a daughter as well and that he met her. He also says that he made things right, casting the second scene in a troubling new light. As the two men talk further about their past, especially regarding Todd, Terry admits that he was also molested by Todd, but that he liked it. He admits that he was jealous of the attention Drew eventually got and that this may be the root of the conflict between them. Once again, I can't give away the conclusion, but there is a turn that lets the accumulated emotions of the play vent.

All in all, the play is about things that lie beneath: what prompts our actions, what defines our relationships, what follows us. The play, for all of its tension and heavy material is surprisingly cathartic. I am continually impressed by LaBute's ability to capture humanness. He doesn't glorify anyone or portray everyone as corrupt and sinister; he shows us as we are: messed up beings trying to do what we think is best. In a Dark Dark House is not my favourite of his plays, but it is definitely one I will come back to.