Setting

The House of the Blues Leaves is a dramatic farce set on October 4,1965, in New York City. The play opens on the stage of the El Dorado Bar & Grill, a little bar in Queens where Artie plays his songs to an unappreciative audience. The rest of the play takes place in Artie's shabby apartment in Sunnyside, Queens. Like the bar, one of the apartment's focal points is a piano. The apartment is cramped and messy; also, it seems transitory, as if the family has not unpacked for many years.

The fact that most of the action takes place in Artie's apartment underscores the claustrophobic nature of his life. Artie is stuck caring for Bananas and working at the zoo.

Parabasis

Parabasis is defined as characters directly addressing the audience. Nearly every major character in The House of Blue Leaves talks to the audience. This makes the audience part...