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Usher Nonsense Vol. 3, No 1
Oedipus at Palm Springs - By Maureen Angelos, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey and Lisa Kron. Directed by Leigh Silverman
at New York Theatre Works, closes August 28th
WITH: The Five Lesbian Brothers: Babs Davy (Joni), Lisa Kron (Con), Maureen Angelos (Fran), Dominique Dibbell (Prin) and
Peg Healey (Terri).
Sets by David Korins; costumes by Miranda Hoffman; lighting by Mary Louise Geiger; original music/sound design by John
Gromada
OK. So. It’s a resort in Palm Springs. A birthday celebration. A married couple show up for their first weekend away from a new baby.
They haven’t had sex in four years (ahh... the wonders of artificial insemination) and are trying to figure out why and if they will survive
this weekend in tact. The second couple is a May-December romance. The younger of the two is the birthday girl. This couple is so into
sex that it makes the married couple nauseous.
Did I mention everyone listed above is a lesbian? Oh, dear. Sorry. It’s true, though. And my, but isn’t it shocking?
This is the first show I have seen by the Lesbian Brothers (although I did see Lisa Kron’s Well), and I feel a bit out of the loop. Out of the
loop that loves lesbians for just being lesbians and believes that theatre of, by and for lesbians must be a good thing because it is about -
you guessed it - LESBIANS! And jeepers creepers - I sure wanted this to be good. I mean – how many shows do we have to watch
about young white men (or old white men) in love with young (or at least not old) white women - where each couple is troubled due to
lack of: a.) a happy childhood, b.) a meaningful career, c.) money, d.) shampoo, e.) sleep, f.) dental care, g.) an attention span greater than
a humming bird's, h.) tasteful clothing, i.) certainty, j.) therapy or k.) a supply of clean running water? Lots, I'm afraid. Too lots.
How about talking about some of the other 85% of the planet? What a concept! So why NOT lesbians? Why not indeed.
What we end up with here, however, is a mildly interesting tale of four people who, except for the fact that these people are declared
lesbians, perform a parody of heterosexual couples. One is a married couple who love each other and who have hit an enormous bump in
their relationship. They have fallen out of sex and into parenthood. They argue and pick and struggle and scream and, for the most part,
we follow them. And we almost care. The other couple (the Oedipal duo) are more or less decoration. They are crazy about each other.
They are wild for one another. They are each other’s home. They like to get naked and give each other a hand job or go down on each
other. Nifty. Yawn.
Now – get ready for the plot: The birthday girl’s adoptive mother has just died. She wants to find her real mother. The owner of the
resort, a blind psychic, predicts that the girl’s real mother will appear very soon. She does. She’s the girl’s older lover. Get it? Oedipus!
Get it? Need a hammer?
The collaborative writing is stacked in favor of the married couple, which is kind of not what the title says. When we find out about the
mother-daughter lover thing going on in Cabin A we are more interested in what the married couple is thinking about this over in Cabin B.
This could partially be due to some of the worst acting to be seen for miles around as the mother realizes and wallows THE TRAGEDY OF
THE DISCOVERY OF HER IDENTITY. Beyond Mugging -101. Find it at a theatre or department store near you.
Actually, with the exception of Lisa Kron, who at least understands comic timing, all the acting is pretty awful. Combined with weak
writing (one could hardly say a weak plot, could one…?) it makes for a l-o-n-g evening.
PS - Before the show begins there is an announcement. The voice says there is nudity, foul language and violence in this show (audience
members cheer). Unwrap your candies and turn off cell phones now so that you don’t annoy you fellow audience members, she says. Let
the actors do that, she says.
And they do.