Oedipus at Palm Springs
The Five Lesbian brothers bring their bright, funny twist on Oedipus Rex to Boston in a contemporary take on the old tale that features same-sex love and... could it be?... a daring interpretation of the theme of mother love.
Oedipus at Palm Springs is all about motherhood: how it shapes us, deforms us, defines us; how it wrecks our sex lives and deepens our bonds and gives the mothers among us a new capacity for love that is both ferocious and endlessly tender.
For such heavy stuff, the play is surprisingly light and nimble, vaulting through an array of emotion with comic ease as twolesbian couples converge on a nearly deserted Palm Springs resort in the dog days of August and sort through the complexities of their relationships.
Prin (Moe Angelos) is a hard-driving businesswoman who brings a masculine ethos not only to her career, but to her personal life; Prin’s past is littered with relationships that she’s treated like business deals, sealing the exchange and then moving on. But for the last seven years, Prin has enjoyed the company of Terri (Vanessa Soto), who she loves as she’s loved no other; when Prin invites the bickering Fran (Karen "Mal" Malme) and Con (Brigid O’Connor) along for a celebration of Terri’s birthday, it’s with the intention of including their best friends in a special occasion: presenting Terri with a ring at her birthday dinner.
For Terri, the occasion is bittersweet: still mourning the death of her adoptive mother, Terri is on the verge of a new career and a new sense of her own identity, debating whether she should seek out her biological mother. But this year’s birthday marks 32 years, and Terri feels her clock ticking: her life is on hold, waiting for her to make up her mind.
Fran and Con look at the weekend getaway as a chance to reconnect sexually and get some rest once they’re away from the all-consuming demands of their three-year-old son. More specifically, Con is looking for some intimate action, while Fran just wants to drink a few beers and take a long nap.
Joni (Linda Monchik) is the resort’s blind manager, a middle-aged wild child with a spooky inner vision and a sense that things are about to change in a way that’s downright seismic: a well-timed tremor heralds the arrival of a shattering revelation that will transform everyone involved.
The laughs are frequent, and the cast demonstrate flair and timing that emphasize the absurdities of life while allowing the poignancies to remain visible and vital. Jealousy, frustration, desire, and longing lace every scene, while the politics of gender simmer and boil over.
The play is well cast, with Linda Monchik a particular standout: striking a balance between the oracular and the hippie-ish, Monchik steals every scene she’s in, and at one point on opening night she drew applause as she finished up her lines and exited the stage. Karen Malme exerts comic precision and a commanding stage presence. Brigid O’Connor’s character complains that she’s tired of being the nagging bitch in the relationship, but O’Connor invests Con with a deeply vulnerable sense of unfulfilled need in conflict with profound ties of love to her partner. Vanessa Soto is perfect as the girlish Terri, vivacious but terrified of taking that final step toward maturity and self-possession. And Moe Angelos, the only cast member to be an original Lesbian Brother (the others refer to themselves as "The Ladies’ Auxiliary") is also a co-author of the play; she brings a broad comic style and a butch energy that powers the narrative and lights up the character dynamics, as in this exchange:
CON: I don’t want to take relationship advice from someone who thinks intimacy is a lap dance.
PRIN: Have you ever had a lap dance?
Director and sound designer Kate Caffrey helps the actors find the best, and worst, elements of femininity and masculinity within their characters and then to blend them into fully dimensional portrayals. These are sexual, selfish, generous, loving creations, and Caffrey knows that the play needs to celebrate them and not simply maneuver them from place to place and configuration to configuration.
The set, by scenic designer Judy Staicer, is both handsome and to the point: two beds on one side of the stage, and a mock-up of hot tub on the other: it’s literally a picture of domesticity that incorporates a hint of wildness and exotic eroticism. (On a couple of occasions, and on both sides of the set, the actors give convincing performances of pure pleasure, one of them quite literally earth-shaking.)
Lighting designer Caleb Jon Magoon evokes moods ranging from moonlight to twilight to afternoon sun, illuminating, as it were, the emotional tone of each scene; Nathalie J. Degenhart has fun with the costuming, giving the players attire suitable to their degrees of "butch" or "femme" and even allowing the characters a chance to slip into classical Grecian garb.
The sound design, by Caffrey and Bob Pascucci, is a highlight: k.d. lang warbles, drums pound out a primal beat, a sighing wind marks feelings of isolation.
The play succeeds on every front: as comedy, as drama, and as update on the Sophoclean original where booze and breast milk both flow, both intoxicate, and both add to the troubles that Fate bestows on the characters.
Oct. 25 - 28 at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. Performance schedule: Friday, Oct. 26: 8:00 p.m. Sat., Oct. 27: 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. Sun., Oct. 28: 2:00 p.m.
Tickets are $20- $48. For tickets contact the Boston Theatre Scene box office at 617.933.8600 or order online at www.bostontheatrescene.com. For more Festival event information visit The Theater Offensive online at www.thetheateroffensive.org.
