The Women Playwright: Clare Booth Luce. At: Circle Theatre, 1010 W. Madison, Oak Park. Phone: 708-660-9540; $22-$26. Runs through: Aug. 14
Five Lesbians, Eating a Quiche
Playwrights: Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder with the ensemble. At: The New Colony at DANK Haus, 4740 N. Western. Phone: 773-413-0862; $20. Runs through: July 30
A friend joked to me that Clare Booth Luce's The Women should be on the syllabus for any Gay 101 course. So if there aren't already lots of lavender-leaning audiences attending Circle Theatre's strong take on Luce's clever 1936 play, there should be.
The Women is cultural catnip for many a gay man due to its catty dialogue and its gorgeous art deco fashions and settings. But many feminists will undoubtedly grimace at any number of politically incorrect aspects about The Women, ranging from its gossipy back-biting characters to its plot about a wealthy New York society woman who loses her unfaithful husband before finding a way to win him back.
Yet it's best to remember that The Women's credo of "a woman's best protection is the right man" is reflective of the time when it was originally written (which might explain why the modernized 2008 film of The Women flopped).
However, at the same time, the sexual frankness of Luce's play is quite surprising for people who only know The Women from George Cukor's sanitized 1939 film starring Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell. It's this brasher sexuality, plus a very enjoyable production at Circle Theatre that makes an Oak Park trip all but essential for gay audiences.
Director Jim Schneider has attracted a large and skilled cast for The Women, right down to the smaller bit parts. The actors are clearly reveling their chance to deliver such funny lines like "Jungle Red!" or "Where I spit no grass grows ever!" while wearing such period-perfect costumes designed by Elizabeth Wislar.
Now there are a couple of wrong notes in Circle's The Women. Katelyn Smith is too old to be playing Little Mary, while the occasional bit of 1960s modern furniture and patterning sneaks into Bob Knuth's otherwise ingenious rotating art deco set.
While Circle's cast of The Women probably won't erase memories of the film's iconic Hollywood starlets, they still make it such a pleasure to experience Luce's play live in its unadulterated original format.
Another all-women cast likely to attract gay audiences is The New Colony's Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche. Originally just a sketch by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood, the collaboration has been expanded to an hour-length play spoofing 1950s wholesomeness and atomic-age paranoia.
In terms of humor, there's plenty of innuendo about these "widows" and their love of eggs and quiche and how they would never let sausage near it.
Five Lesbians never really shakes off its silly sketch origins, but it does boast a funny quintet of actors with precision comic timing and outrageous characterizations. Much credit goes to Mary Hollis Inboden, Megan Johns, Thea Lux, Beth Stelling and Maari Suorsa who all make the play ultimately worthwhile.
