Joseph Lasher, Beckett Conwell, Jo E. Vasquez, Ethan Windt, Sarah Goodall, David Weaver, Drew Dowda, Calvin Vo, and T. Green in Haus of Ruckus' “Are We There Yeti?” at St. Ambrose University -- March 3 through 12.
Friday, March 3, through Sunday, March 12
St. Ambrose University's Studio Theatre, 2101 North Gaines Street, Davenport IA
Over their past year-plus of productions, the Haus of Ruckus team of T. Green and Calvin Vo have treated audiences to no end of surprises: blends of classical-Greek and disco stylings; mixed martial arts competitions peppered with video-game sound effects and glow-in-the-dark puppets; a talking cactus. But with their latest comedy Are We There Yeti?, running March 3 through 12, Green and Vo have made a most unexpected presentational switch: They've gone educational. Sort of.
Taking a brief hiatus from their usual venue of downtown Davenport's Mockingbird on Main (where the company will return for the next two outings on its schedule), the Haus of Ruckus brigade will stage their latest Johnny-and-Fungus adventure in the Studio Theatre of Davenport's St. Ambrose University, employing the talents of a number of SAU students making their Ruckus debuts.
“People from Ambrose have been so helpful to us over the past year,” says Green, an alumnus of the university. “And it's really cool to work with them on this and provide them with this opportunity as a sort of thank you. Also, for me, obviously, just getting to work in their space again has been a lot of fun.”
Vo, himself a graduate of Rock Island's Augustana College, adds, “Since the beginning of Haus of Ruckus, Ambrose alum have been so open to and interested in collaborating. So it's really been a boon to be able to work with these former and current Ambrose students, because so much of what we've been doing for the past year, year-and-a-half has involved an Ambrose person in some way, lending effort and ideas and being on stage. We've been having a great time on this.”
While Haus of Ruckus newcomers and SAU students Beckett Conwell, Drew Dowda, Jayden LeBron, Megan Rohn, and Ethan Windt expand their theatrical experience and will no doubt learn a lot working on Are We There Yeti?, it's questionable – and this is not an insult – whether audiences will find the comedy's gleefully silly-sounding plot similarly educational. Though with Ruckus, you never know.
Nutshelling this latest narrative for our slacker heroes that, as described on the Haus of Ruckus Facebook page, involves “avalanches, cryptids, puppets, and West Coast-exclusive fast-food chains,” Green says, “Are We There 'Yeti' is another Johnny-and-Fungus adventure, where this time they find themselves in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. They're going on a trip to see Fungus' dad, and end up in this kind of tangled conspiracy about Sasquatch, who is believed to be ravaging the small town of Foggy Rich of all of their headlights and applesauce.
“As they explore,” Green continues, “it's revealed that there's more to the story than they maybe thought. And the show was sort of directly inspired by Calvin and I going on a trip to Colorado while we were writing [last spring's] 'Pants' Labyrinth, so that was a while ago. We got inspiration for a show we haven't gotten around to 'til now.”
The idea of staging Are We There Yeti? at St. Ambrose began with Daniel Rairdin-Hale, the university's theatre-department chair. “We got a text from Dan about May of last year,” says Green. “He basically said, 'Hey, we're looking to start collaborating with outside companies at Ambrose for student opportunities, and also find ways to use the studio space in different ways.' He had seen what we were doing on social media and came to see a couple of our plays, and so we talked and kind of reached an agreement.”
“There weren't any parameters given to us when we were planning this collaboration,” Vo says. “But what we did know was that we wanted to be able to utilize our ensemble of people from Haus of Ruckus that were returning, and also wanted to provide opportunities to work with people from Ambrose in whatever capacity we could. So we wrote the cast size a little bit bigger than usual for us, knowing that we wanted to bring a lot of our guys and gals back and knowing that we'd like to work with people we haven't worked with before. I mean, it's a big cast.”
He isn't kidding. In addition to the five current SAU students, and Vo and Green reprising their beloved roles as best buds Johnny and Fungus, Are We There Yeti? also boasts on-stage participation by seven Haus of Ruckus veterans: Sarah Goodall, Bella Kuta, Joseph Lasher, Max Robnett, Jo E. Vasquez, David Weaver, and Shannon Ryan, the latter making her Ruckus acting debut after working design and crew positions for previous productions.
“What's really cool is there isn't any sort of difference between the students who are new to this and our returning people,” says Green. “In the way that it's cast and the way it's running, every current Ambrose student interacts with a Ruckus ensemble member, and everyone involved has really taken to the Ruckus style and our own way of directing and producing scripts. Everyone has also been really open to maybe making bigger choices than they would if they were doing, like, a Molière or something. We definitely have a unique style that's very personal and connected to the actors' portrayal of the characters, because they're world-premiere scripts. There's wiggle room there.”
With even the members of Are We There Yeti?'s creative team including participants who are both veterans of the company (designer and scenic painter Becky Meissen) and university figures working on their first Haus of Ruckus show (designer and technical director Aaron Hook), Vo says, “There's something nice about working with people like Sarah and David, and Max, and Jo Lasher, and Jo Vasquez, and Bella and Shannon – all of them knowing our process. There's a groove there. But then, with the Ambrose students, there's something really nice about it being new for all of us. How do we incorporate this world of educational theatre into our usual process? And I think it's been really beneficial for everyone.”
“We always wanted Haus of Ruckus to pop up other places,” adds Green. “So it was nice to have someone reach out to us about that. And obviously, it's nice for me to go back to my alma mater. And for Calvin to go back to his bitter rival.”
Are We There Yeti? will be performed in St. Ambrose University's Studio Theatre located in the Galvin Fine Arts Center, the show runs March 3 through 12, and performances are Fridays through Sundays at the traditional Ruckus start time of 7:34 p.m. Tickets are $12 and available by calling (563)333-6251 and visiting the production's ShowTix4U page; for more information on the comedy and the company, visit Haus of Ruckus' Facebook page.
