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In a Dark Dark House
Two brothers meet on the grounds of a private psychiatric facility. Drew, has been court-confined for observation and has called his older brother, Terry, to corroborate his claim of childhood sexual abuse by a young man from many summers ago. Drew's request releases barely-hidden animosities between the Is he using these repressed memories to save himself while smearing the name of his brother's friend? Through pain and acknowledged betrayal, the brothers come to grips with and begin to understand the legacy of abuse, both inside and outside their family home. In a Dark, Dark House is the latest work from Neil LaBute, American theater's great agent provocateur. The play will have its world Premiere in May 2007, Off Broadway at New York's MCC Theater.
94 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Neil LaBute
85 books122 followersNeil LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, LaBute was raised in Spokane, Washington. He studied theater at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At BYU he also met actor Aaron Eckhart, who would later play leading roles in several of his films. He produced a number of plays that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable at the conservative religious university, some of which were shut down after their premieres. LaBute also did graduate work at the University of Kansas, New York University, and the Royal Academy of London.
In 1993 he returned to Brigham Young University to premier his play In the Company of Men, for which he received an award from the Association for Mormon Letters. He taught drama and film at IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the early 1990s where he adapted and filmed the play, shot over two weeks and costing $25,000, beginning his career as a film director. The film won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, and major awards and nominations at the Deauville Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Society of Texas Film Critics Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle.
LaBute has received high praise from critics for his edgy and unsettling portrayals of human relationships. In the Company of Men portrays two misogynist businessmen (one played by Eckhart) cruelly plotting to romance and emotionally destroy a deaf woman. His next film Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), with an ensemble cast including Eckhart and Ben Stiller, was a shockingly honest portrayal of the sex lives of three suburban couples. In 2000 he wrote an off-Broadway play entitled Bash: Latter-Day Plays, a set of three short plays (Iphigenia in orem, A gaggle of saints, and Medea redux) depicting essentially good Latter-day Saints doing disturbing and violent things. One of the plays was a much-talked-about one-person performance by Calista Flockhart. This play resulted in his being disfellowshipped from the LDS Church. He has since formally left the LDS Church.
LaBute's 2002 play The Mercy Seat was one of the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Set on September 12, it concerns a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the attack — with his mistress. Expecting that his family believes that he was killed in the towers' collapse, he contemplates using the tragedy to run away and start a new life with his lover. Starring Liev Schreiber and Sigourney Weaver, the play was a commercial and critical success.
LaBute's latest film is The Wicker Man, an American version of a British cult classic. His first horror film, it starred Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn and was released on September 1, 2006 by Warner Bros. Pictures to scathing critical reviews and mediocre box office.
He is working with producer Gail Mutrux on the screen adaptation of The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, LaBute was raised in Spokane, Washington. He studied theater at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At BYU he also met actor Aaron Eckhart, who would later play leading roles in several of his films. He produced a number of plays that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable at the conservative religious university, some of which were shut down after their premieres. LaBute also did graduate work at the University of Kansas, New York University, and the Royal Academy of London.
In 1993 he returned to Brigham Young University to premier his play In the Company of Men, for which he received an award from the Association for Mormon Letters. He taught drama and film at IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the early 1990s where he adapted and filmed the play, shot over two weeks and costing $25,000, beginning his career as a film director. The film won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, and major awards and nominations at the Deauville Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Society of Texas Film Critics Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle.
LaBute has received high praise from critics for his edgy and unsettling portrayals of human relationships. In the Company of Men portrays two misogynist businessmen (one played by Eckhart) cruelly plotting to romance and emotionally destroy a deaf woman. His next film Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), with an ensemble cast including Eckhart and Ben Stiller, was a shockingly honest portrayal of the sex lives of three suburban couples. In 2000 he wrote an off-Broadway play entitled Bash: Latter-Day Plays, a set of three short plays (Iphigenia in orem, A gaggle of saints, and Medea redux) depicting essentially good Latter-day Saints doing disturbing and violent things. One of the plays was a much-talked-about one-person performance by Calista Flockhart. This play resulted in his being disfellowshipped from the LDS Church. He has since formally left the LDS Church.
LaBute's 2002 play The Mercy Seat was one of the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Set on September 12, it concerns a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the attack — with his mistress. Expecting that his family believes that he was killed in the towers' collapse, he contemplates using the tragedy to run away and start a new life with his lover. Starring Liev Schreiber and Sigourney Weaver, the play was a commercial and critical success.
LaBute's latest film is The Wicker Man, an American version of a British cult classic. His first horror film, it starred Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn and was released on September 1, 2006 by Warner Bros. Pictures to scathing critical reviews and mediocre box office.
He is working with producer Gail Mutrux on the screen adaptation of The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 15, 2007
it's no chekov. but at the end of the thin volume, he included the short story that he wrote prior to the play that inspired it... and i appreciated the process...
but my favorite part was the preface/intro... it was like a peek into the innards of someone...
but my favorite part was the preface/intro... it was like a peek into the innards of someone...
June 18, 2011
Amazingly intense play. The way the story was revealed reminds you what the word "drama" really means. As always the language and interplay of the dialog, along with the subtle hints into the story behind the dialog, makes this play an extremely engaging and almost terrifying experience.
August 1, 2012
I don't think the word 'dark' is repeated often enough in the title to encompass everything that is this play.
Neil LaBute can be twisted, but this is painful. This play was born from personal strife and emotional crippling.
And trust me, it makes all the difference.
Neil LaBute can be twisted, but this is painful. This play was born from personal strife and emotional crippling.
And trust me, it makes all the difference.
July 13, 2023
Hadn't read a play in so long! Felt good to do. IDK if I like LaBute—lots of command over naturalistic dialogue, quintessential middle-class Americana aesthetics...but there's something brash and easy about the way he dispels information. Every scene escalates into an argument, and every line ends in an exclamation point.
Still, the subject matter of IN A DARK DARK HOUSE is very interesting—a little on the nose with the "hurt people hurt people" themes, but still a poignant contribution to the discussion surrounding the legacy of abuse. One review of this pointed out that each of the play's three parts begins with someone saying "go for it"...I'm trying to figure out why.
Seems like a prevalent thing here is the idea that each of us is capable of great evil [SPOILERS HERE]. Terry was molested by Todd, a man who is now entirely unassuming, so much that he doesn't even recognize Terry years later. Terry, in turn, (nearly) grooms and abuses Todd's fifteen-year-old daughter. Drew, to get Terry to expedite his release from a psychiatric clinic, lies about being abused (and lied in the past, often, at Terry's expense). And perhaps acts of such great evil don't actually take much premeditation or thinking—all you have to do is "go for it". :/
Still, the subject matter of IN A DARK DARK HOUSE is very interesting—a little on the nose with the "hurt people hurt people" themes, but still a poignant contribution to the discussion surrounding the legacy of abuse. One review of this pointed out that each of the play's three parts begins with someone saying "go for it"...I'm trying to figure out why.
Seems like a prevalent thing here is the idea that each of us is capable of great evil [SPOILERS HERE]. Terry was molested by Todd, a man who is now entirely unassuming, so much that he doesn't even recognize Terry years later. Terry, in turn, (nearly) grooms and abuses Todd's fifteen-year-old daughter. Drew, to get Terry to expedite his release from a psychiatric clinic, lies about being abused (and lied in the past, often, at Terry's expense). And perhaps acts of such great evil don't actually take much premeditation or thinking—all you have to do is "go for it". :/
May 28, 2025
Directing this play this summer (maybe??). It’s very dark and some unnecessary jokes that are racist/homophobic bothered me, but the ending was powerful and tied the story all together. Stay tuned for my directorial debut
November 17, 2021
It was the short story in the back that convinced me how much I disliked the play.
September 6, 2024
i know this one is controversial and i'm not saying i agree with certain aspects of it, but i loved this one. look up trigger warnings before you read.
September 22, 2024
I don’t think I’ve had to set a play down in the middle of reading just to process it all, but that happened like three times with this one. Really fucked up and intense yet well-crafted.
July 10, 2015
- from the jacket: "Two brothers meet on the grounds of a private psychiatric facility. Drew, has been court-confined for observation and has called his older brother, Terry, to corroborate his claim of childhood sexual abuse by a young man from many summers ago. Drew's request releases barely-hidden animosities between the two: Is he using these repressed memories to save himself while smearing the name of his brother's friend? Through pain and acknowledged betrayal, the brothers come to grips with and begin to understand the legacy of abuse, both inside and outside their family home."
- In a Dark, Dark House is the latest work from Neil LaBute, American theater's great agent provocateur. The play will have its world Premiere in May 2007, Off Broadway at New York's MCC Theater
- I read an interesting review of this play in The New Yorker Magazine, then looked for a copy to read at the library
- In a Dark, Dark House is the latest work from Neil LaBute, American theater's great agent provocateur. The play will have its world Premiere in May 2007, Off Broadway at New York's MCC Theater
- I read an interesting review of this play in The New Yorker Magazine, then looked for a copy to read at the library
July 11, 2007
Dude, don't say dude. Always remember, remain nominally beyond shotty teenage vernacular but not implied brotherly incest.
October 30, 2017
Not my favorite LaBute. Quite a number of my friends can't stand his writing, or the subject matter. This play gave me an idea of what they were talking about.
August 14, 2009
Two words: MIND FUCK.
September 9, 2009
2.5 stars
September 21, 2016
This volume contains the short story that the script grew out of and it's valuable to see that process.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews