"A
compelling, sensitive, and sometimes very funny look at
the lives of the young female residents of Webster House,
a freshman dorm at the exclusive Fay School. Filmmaker Jane
Gray astutely observes the complexities of privilege, expectation,
and disappointment over the span of an academic year in
this rarefied educational environment." - Ross
McElwee, Producer/ Director, 'Sherman's March', 'Time Indefinite',
'6 O'Clock News'
“Playing
House” is an intimate and funny verité documentary
that presents a portrait of five seventh- and eighth-grade
girls during their first year at boarding school. The film
takes place primarily in the dormitory the girls share,
Webster House, where we watch their everyday lives unfold
as they make friends and enemies, have their first dates,
sleep with stuffed animals, sing along with Britney Spears,
and negotiate social interactions that can at times be brutal.
Through a series of intimate vignettes, “Playing House”
follows the girls from September, when their parents kiss
and hug them good-bye, to June, when their good-byes to
each other are surprisingly teary given the rocky year they’ve
shared.