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But the House Theatre does not.

Sunday May 28, 2006.     By Ed Rutherford

Theater Feed

The House Theatre of Chicago has, for the most part, built its reputation on the production of pop-culture-influenced original works. This time out, they do a fine job staging Joe Meno's adaptation of his novel, "The Boy Detective Fails."

The show opens with an engrossing video (narrated by Carl Kassel, no less) that brings the audience up to speed on the story of the title character. When the Encyclopedia Brown-like Billy Argo (Shawn Pfautsch) was younger, he and his sister (Paige Hoffman), along with a luckless sidekick (Justin Palmer), solved a string of mysteries. But when the team breaks up as they grew older, Billy finds himself committed after his sister seemingly (and inexplicably) kills herself. Back on the streets, his goal is to solve one final mystery: why his sister decided to end her life.

As Billy unravels the clues of his sister's death, director Nathan Allen and choreographer Tommy Rapley come up with clever and wonder-infused ways to take the audience along on the journey, from abandoned amusement parks to the bottom of a well. Especially fun are the miniature buildings and buses that appear and move around as Billy travels from place to place. We also get some extremely entertaining clowning from Jake Minton and Stephen Taylor as an aging mad scientist and a telemarketer whose hair must be seen to be believed. Lauren Vitz is also very endearing as a socially stunted kleptomaniac who falls for the grown up boy detective.

Perhaps in the piece runs a little long, but it's still an engaging installment in the House's body of work. The House Theatre's coming season will be made up of all original works, but this satisfying production makes one wonder what the House would do with other adaptations of previously written works.

Playing at the Viaduct Theatre; 3111 N. Western Ave.; (773) 251-2195; $15-$19. Running through July 1; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday.