Muses II: Memories of a House: Home Theatre

Driving down Travis Heights Boulevard in South Central Austin, just a stone's throw from the river, it's easy to be awestruck by the houses – with their high eaves and storybook feel – and the trees – large-trunked, spreading live oaks, some as many as 150 years old – and dozens of crepe myrtles lining the streets. But one bungalow in particular stands out: the one with, among other things, the bathtub in the front yard and the sign advertising the Bone Tree Sculpture Garden in the back – the dwelling occupied by artist Bobby Pearl. It's a special house for many reasons, and soon it will be even more special, as it will serve as the setting for the Vestige Group's Muses II: Memories of a House.

Staging theatrical events in people's homes is nothing new, but using a home as the inspiration for the event is a rare occurrence. At least it was when Vestige staged what now should be considered Muses I back in late 2006. "Helen Roberts had come to see our production of Neil Labute's Fat Pig," says Susie Gidseg, who serves as Vestige's co-artistic director, along with Jen Brown. "Helen was a friend of the family, and I hadn't seen her in years, but she was really interested in being a patron. We had these cutouts of women of different sizes on the walls, and she ended up buying them, and a couple weeks later she approached Jen and me, and she said, 'I have a house, and I want you to do a play there.' And we were like: 'Wow! That's a lot of trust.' And she kind of gave us the keys."

So Vestige took pictures of every room in the house and sent out a call for scenes and monologues. "I'm on this dramaturgy listserv," says Gidseg, "which has playwrights and dramaturges from all over the U.S., and even outside of the U.S., and I got flooded. I got literally 150, 200 people interested in writing."

"And then," says Brown, "depending on the kinds of pieces we got in – the mood, the tone – we put together the show we wanted based on the pieces, the ones that fit together the best, that had a good balance of comedy and drama but still had some sort of through-line."

While Vestige had a little more difficulty finding a space this time around, next time will be different. Says Gidseg: "Now that people know this is going to be an annual thing for us, they've started coming out of the woodwork. I was at an old restored hunting lodge last night that was turned into a home, and the woman there gave me her card and said, 'I know what you're doing, and next year I want you to be here.'"

Wear comfortable shoes, as the production is, by necessity, a traveling feast, with scenes taking place both inside and outside the house. And as with Muses I, the number of tickets for each performance is limited to 30, so make your reservations early.

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Muses II: Memories of a House runs June 13-22, Friday-Saturday, 7pm; Sunday, 2 & 7pm, at the home of Bobby Pearl. Reservations required. For more information, visit www.vestigegroup.org.