House Rules

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A. Rey Pamatmat

Reviewed by A.J. Muhammad

Two close knit and neighboring New York City based Filipino American families whose American born children are faced with the mortality of their elder parents in A. Rey Pamatmat’s new play “House Rules,” a production of Ma-Yi Theater Company. Patriarch Ernie (an impish Jojo Gonzalez) has two sons Rod (James Yaegashi) and JJ (Jeffrey Omura); and matriarch Vera (the always vibrant Mia Katigbak) has adversarial daughters, the neurologist Momo (Tiffany Villarin) and photographer Twee (Tina Chilip).

At the top of the play, Ernie falls ill, leaving his cardiologist son Rod to care for him in the hospital (where Momo is also employed). The thanks that Rod gets is to constantly be berated by his father. Ernie would rather prefer a visit from the “good son” JJ.  Not only is Rod dealing with his father’s declining health, he is also crushed when his wishy washy Caucasian boyfriend and colleague Henry -- who really is twee -- has broken up with him; and JJ loses his lucrative job at a comic book company (think Marvel Comics) in LA then returns to NYC to crash with Rod. Both brothers resent their father for his cruel treatment of them during their childhood.  JJ, who suffers from an early career crisis, can’t bring himself to visit his father and later falls for Twee. Meanwhile the stylish and extroverted Twee, who has blown grant money on a trip to India, returns broke and stays at her mother’s home where she relentlessly taunts the introverted goody two-shoes younger sis Momo who Twee feels is mom’s favorite. Momo’s attempt to preserve their Filipino culture by learning how to cook and teaching herself Tagalog is often the cause of Twee’s harangues. This leaves Vera to play the peacemaker between her squabbling daughters and defend her friend Ernie's legacy to his sons when JJ goes off about his dad.  This places Vera in a health predicament of her own.

The board, card and traditional games that characters play in “House Rules” can be viewed as a metaphor for the games and traditions that we learn from our parents and that siblings and friends teach other. Each generation of parents change the rules of the game of parenting and how do we change the game from morphing into our parents? Or, is this a losing game?

Pamatmat has a lot of ideas in his game book, but the challenge faced by him and his director Ralph B. Peña is integrating these ideas into a wholly compelling stage play, whereas “House Rules” seems like a theatricalized screenplay. It’s hard for us to invest in a play that simmers and doesn’t start boiling in until late in the game.

Pamatmat is served well by his cast who do uniformly good jobs with his naturalistic writing. Reid Thompson’s loft like set design allows us to see simultaneous action; Oliver Wason’s lighting zeroes in during moments of intimacy and adds color and warmth to HERE Art Center’s expansive ground floor black box theater. Veteran sound designer Fabian Obispo’s jazzy percussive score matched the rhythm of the quick scene shifts that initially established all of the characters in different locations, but grew repetitive.

House Rules and Danai Gurira’s “Familiar,” which both ran Off-Broadway at the same time, portray tensions between first generation Americans and their immigrant parents, the cost of assimilation has on the psyches of parents and their children, and sibling rivalries. Both incorporate the beauty and sound of other languages (Shona in “Familiar” and Tagalog in “House Rules”) into the plays. Like “Familiar,” which premiered regionally and was reportedly revised before arriving in New York City, Pamatmat could stand to rework “House Rules” so that it is more impactful and leaves ticket holders feeling like they have the winning hand.

"House Rules" by A. Rey Pamatmat. Directed by Ralph B. Peña.  Costume Design: Martin Schnellinger. Lighting Design: Oliver Wason. Sound Design: Fabian Obispo. Production Stage Manager: Jennifer Delac. Ran from March 25 - April 16, 2016 at HERE, 145 6th Avenue.