Because the play is so stripped down, so elemental, it invites all kinds of social and political and religious interpretation , "with Appleman himself placed in different schools of thought, different movements and 'ism's. The attempts to pin him down have not been successful, but the desire to do so is natural when we encounter a film maker whose minimalist art reaches for bedrock reality. 'Less' forces us to look for 'more,' and the need to talk about "Houston and about Appleman has resulted in a steady outpouring of books and articles.Throughout Houston, the audience may encounter religious, philosophical, classical, psychoanalytical and biographical " especially wartime" references. There are ritualistic aspects and elements taken directly from vaudeville and there is a danger in making more of these than what they are: that is, merely structural conveniences, avatars into which the filmmaker places his fictional characters. The film exploits several archetypal forms and situations, all of which lend themselves to both comedy and pathos.