Although Susan H. Pak’s new play, “The F*** House,” is set in the 1980s, two decades before I attended middle school, I instantly recognized the paper fortune tellers that serve as programs for Strawdog Theatre Company’s world premiere. Depending on your age, you might know the type: a folded origami shape consisting of four pyramidal points that unfold to reveal hidden panels, which generations of teens have used to reveal juicy details about their futures.

This nostalgic touch sets the scene for a whirlwind tour of middle school staples in Pak’s two-hander, as 13-year-old besties Mo (Emily Zhang) and Steff (Olivia Lindsay) navigate formal dances, first periods, algebra class, line-dancing lessons and after-school detention. Early on, the play sets up familiar coming-of-age tensions: maintaining old friendships versus cultivating new ones, attempting to fit into popular cliques versus confidently standing out. It soon becomes apparent that Mo and Steff are dealing with even darker problems both in and out of school, including domestic violence, sexual assault, substance abuse and racism.

It’s quite a specific skill for adult writers of fiction — whether playwrights, screenwriters or novelists — to create convincing adolescent characters, and in theater, there’s the added complication that adult actors often play the teenage roles. Mo and Steff are compelling characters, and under Christina Casano’s direction, Zhang and Lindsay successfully capture the youthful enthusiasm and heightened emotions of seventh-grade girls. But I never felt fully immersed in what could otherwise be a very moving story, due to some structural and pacing issues, plus a few circumstances that strain credibility.

When we meet Mo, a first-generation Korean American growing up in a suburb of Chicago, she’s practicing for cheerleading tryouts, hoping to make the junior varsity squad. Steff has no interest in the preppy crowd, preferring to march to the beat of her own drum — or rather, rock to the tune of her own electric violin, her chosen instrument when she later joins a punk band. It’s easy to see how these two friends will struggle to stay close in the social pressure cooker of middle school.

The play’s episodic structure gives it a disjointed feel, especially in the first act, and the pacing is hampered by a slew of onstage costume changes and set changes executed by the two actors. (Aly Greaves Amidei is the costume designer and Nina Castillo-D’Angier is the set designer.) While sound designer Heath Hays and lighting designer Ellie Humphrys fill these interludes with upbeat music and cool hues, there’s simply too much dead space to keep up the momentum.

When the stakes fully ramp up in the second act, Mo and Steff face situations that are painfully confusing to them, but ominously clear to the adults in the audience. The girls’ ability to naively laugh off troubling events is uncomfortable to watch, even if their reactions are just a brave façade. Making matters worse for Mo, she encounters a range of racist attitudes in her primarily white school, from microaggressions to blatant slurs. In both characters, Pak exposes wounds that no one, especially not young kids, should have to experience.

Olivia Lindsay and Emily Zhang in Strawdog Theatre Company’s production of “The F*** House.” (Manuel Ortiz)

One question kept bugging me throughout the girls’ exploits, though: where are Mo’s parents? It’s established that Steff has a difficult home life; her mother struggles with addition, and her stepfamily is abusive. While Mo faces different forms of abuse at home, her parents seem strict enough that it’s unlikely she could regularly hop the Metra to a club in the city and stay out late with Steff and her 25-year-old stepbrother. But maybe I’m just underestimating the resourceful of teenagers determined to sneak out.

Regardless, the tender relationship at the heart of Pak’s play is certainly a story worth telling. With further development, including tightening the running time, the show could really pack a punch in its exploration of friendship, peer pressure, assimilation and generational trauma.

Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.

Review: “The F*** House” (2.5 stars)

When: Through Oct. 12

Where: Strawdog Theatre Company at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Tickets: $10-$80 at theaterwit.org

 

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/03/review-house-strawdog-theatre/