The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare
**Overview of The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare**
"The House of Blue Leaves" is a 1971 play by John Guare that blends dark comedy with poignant themes about ambition, family, and the pursuit of success. Set in Queens, New York, it follows the life of Artie Shaughnessy, an aspiring songwriter, as he navigates his complicated relationships with his mentally ill wife, Bananas, his ambitious mistress, Bunny, and his troubled son, Ronnie. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of Pope Paul VI's visit to New York City, which Artie hopes will serve as a catalyst for his dreams of fame and fortune.
The play explores the contrasting desires of its characters—Artie's yearning for recognition, Bunny's appetite for a glamorous life, and Ronnie's struggle with feelings of inadequacy. As the story progresses, the characters grapple with harsh realities and the dark humor that arises from their misadventures, including a tragic climax that underlines the play's exploration of failure and the absurdity of the American dream. Through its rich tapestry of themes such as fame, mental illness, and the complexities of love, "The House of Blue Leaves" remains a relevant and thought-provoking work in American drama.
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The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare
First produced: 1971; first published, 1971
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Absurdist
Time of plot: October 4, 1965
Locale: Sunnyside, Queens, New York City
Principal characters
Artie Shaughnessy , a zookeeper and would-be songwriterBananas , his wifeRonnie , their sonBunny Flingus , their neighborBilly Einhorn , a Hollywood directorCorinna Stroller , a Hollywood starlet
The Story:
Zookeeper and would-be songwriter Artie Shaughnessy plays and sings to unreceptive, jeering patrons of El Dorado Bar on amateur night. Afterward, in his cluttered apartment in Sunnyside, Queens, he sleeps on the living-room couch, dreaming aloud that his son Ronnie comes to New York as pope. Meanwhile, Ronnie, dressed in Army fatigues, surreptitiously climbs through the unlocked window into his old bedroom. Artie’s dream is interrupted by the arrival of his neighbor and lover, Bunny Flingus, who excitedly admonishes him to get dressed so they can attend the pope’s motorcade outside and secure the pope’s blessing on their union and on Artie’s music, which will ensure their marriage and a Hollywood songwriting career. Artie agrees to get dressed on the condition that Bunny cook for him, but she refuses, denying him her cuisine (although not her bed) until their wedding.
As they talk, Artie’s sickly wife, Bananas, enters in nightclothes; she, remaining unnoticed, then returns to her room and cries out. She returns to the room, hysterical, and becomes calmer after Artie forces sedatives down her, while Bunny hides in the kitchen. Artie then feeds Bananas, who behaves like a puppy. Bunny emerges from the kitchen and confronts Artie about divorce. Artie tells Bananas that he has found for her a sanatorium. He describes a lovely tree there, with blue leaves, leaves that blew away in the form of a flock of bluebirds to canopy another tree, leaving the first one bare.
Sensing Artie’s indecision, Bunny insists that he call his old friend Billy Einhorn, the famous Hollywood moviemaker. Challenged, Artie telephones Billy to tell him that he will be going to Hollywood with Bunny, a woman he first met in a steam bath. As a cheerful Bunny leaves to pack for Hollywood, a depressed Bananas is persuaded by Artie to go with him to see the pope for healing. They leave, taking Artie’s sheet music to be blessed as well.
Ronnie, left alone, sneaks out of his room, cradling a large box that contains a homemade bomb. He delivers a monologue about the ways his father and others disparage him, citing an instance when Einhorn had been in town looking for the ideal American boy for a Huckleberry Finn movie and Ronnie humiliated himself auditioning for Billy, who deemed him retarded. Then Ronnie again secluded himself in his room.
Artie returns with Bananas and Bunny and is greeted by the arrival of Corinna Stroller, a beautiful starlet whose only film was directed by Einhorn, her fiancé. Corinna, who tries not to reveal that she is deaf, wears a transistorized hearing aid that malfunctions, so she disconnects it. When Artie insists that she listen to his songs, his audition is futile. Furthermore, it is interrupted by three shivering nuns who were locked out on the roof while hoping to see the pope and now appear at the window, asking to watch His Holiness on Artie’s television. A startled Corinna drops her transistors and cannot find them. Artie herds the nuns into Ronnie’s room, where Ronnie is discovered dressed as an altar boy. Artie concludes that his son has been chosen to be an attendant to the pope.
Artie resumes auditioning. At Bananas’s sly request, Artie plays his first composed song and then “White Christmas,” which brings to his attention that both songs have the same tune. Angry with Bananas for this exposure, Artie calls the sanatorium and asks an attendant to come for her. Corinna announces that she and Billy plan marriage and a two-year stay in Australia, which will leave Artie without a Hollywood connection. Dismayed, Artie remains deaf to Ronnie’s announced intention to blow up the pope. A struggle between Ronnie and the nuns ensues when Corrina, in departing, offers two tickets to the mass at Yankee Stadium. Also pursuing Ronnie is an officer who arrives to arrest him for being absent without leave from his unit, which is destined for Vietnam. Just as a sanatorium attendant arrives to pick up a Mrs. Arthur Shaughnessy, Bunny enters and answers to the name, thus being mistakenly straitjacketed and dragged away. Striving to elude the MP, Ronnie tosses the packaged bomb to an unsuspecting Corinna as she leaves. It explodes in the hallway, killing her and two of the nuns.
Einhorn arrives from Hollywood to mourn his beloved as Artie, amid feigned consolation, tries to persuade Einhorn to take him to Hollywood. Bananas appears and demands that Einhorn rescue Ronnie, whereupon Einhorn calls the Pentagon and gets Ronnie assigned to Rome, to be near the pope. Bunny brings in a meal for Einhorn that causes him to ask her to accompany him to Australia. He advises Artie to stay in Queens, where he can remain Einhorn’s ideal audience and can care for Bananas. His dreams shattered, Artie is left alone with his wife. As he kisses her tenderly, he gently strangles her in despairing love. As her body becomes lifeless, blue leaves begin to fall, and Artie goes into his act for the Eldorado, singing “I’m Here with Bells On.”
Bibliography
Bernstein, Samuel J. The Strands Entwined: A New Direction in American Drama. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1980. Contains a twenty-page chapter on The House of Blue Leaves, which reviews the 1971 production criticism and provides an insightful analysis of the play. In Bernstein’s view, Guare effectively uses comic techniques obliquely to attack questionable values of American culture.
Curry, Jane Kathleen. John Guare: A Research and Production Sourcebook. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. A compendium of information about Guare, including a biographical essay, a summary and critical overview of The House of Blue Leaves and his other plays, production credits, and bibliographies of works by and about the playwright.
Guare, John. Foreword to The House of Blue Leaves. New York: New American Library, 1987. Guare briefly discusses play-related autobiographical events, including witnessing juxtaposed productions of an August Strindberg drama and a Georges Feydeau farce and conceiving the tragic comic structure of The House of Blue Leaves. In a preceding preface he compares the play’s decade-separated openings.
Harrop, John. “Ibsen Translated by Lewis Carroll: The Theatre of John Guare.” New Theatre Quarterly 3, no. 10 (May, 1987): 150-154. An overview of Guare’s plays perceives The House of Blue Leaves as an exploration of the national obsession with facile success. Immediately following Harrop’s interview with Guare (pp. 155-159) is an extensive checklist, including chronology, succinct synopses, and bibliography (pp. 160-177).
Kolin, Philip, ed. American Playwrights Since 1945: A Guide to Scholarship, Criticism, and Performance. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989. Includes Don B. Wilmeth’s helpfully detailed chapter on Guare, which includes a production history and criticism of The House of Blue Leaves. An extensive bibliography of secondary sources includes published reviews of the play.
Marranca, Bonnie, and Gautam Dasgupta. American Playwrights: A Critical Survey. Vol. 1. New York: Drama Book Specialists, 1981. Guare and his major work are thoughtfully discussed in an eleven-page chapter. The House of Blue Leaves is viewed as a play as much about human failure as about the ironies of fate.
Plunka, Gene A. The Black Comedy of John Guare. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002. An examination of Guare’s plays, describing how he uses black humor to satirize Americans’ obsession with celebrity and their inability to connect with their own individuality. Chapter 3 is devoted to an analysis of The House of Blue Leaves.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “John Guare and the Popular Culture Hype of Celebrity Status.” In A Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama, edited by David Krasner. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2005. Describes how The House of Blue Leaves and Guare’s other plays depict characters who worship celebrity, money, and status.