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A CurtainUp Review
The Beebo Brinker Chronicles


The Beebo Brinker Chronicles Get a Second Life
The production reviewed last fall by Jenny Sandman is now getting a second limited engagment at 37 Arts,450 West 37th Street (between 9th & 10th Aves. -- accessible from A,C,E trains to 34th St). Tickets are $46.25 - $56.25 at 212-307-4100

For details about the show, see the original review below.
Who am I? —Beth
Ann Bannon became known as the "Queen of Lesbian Pulp" for her landmark novels of the 1950s and 1960s. Her pulp novels which defined lesbian fiction for the pre-Stonewall generation were set in an earlier, seedier Greenwich Village and are now largely unknown outside of lesbian literary circles. I'm not familiar with her books, so I can't say how accurate an adaptation The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. I can say, however, that it's a highly enjoyable departure from lesbian stereotypes and filled with interestingly complex characters.

At the heart of the Chronicles is the relationship between Laura and Beth. Their smoking hot college love affair ends abruptly when Beth got married. Laura moves to New York to nurse her wounds. She discovers the Village's underground gay subculture which is personified by the über-butch Beebo Brinker who feasts on innocent younglesbians.

Laura stumbles through one bad relationship after another, then finally discovers safe harbor with Jack, her gay best friend. Meanwhile, Beth is miserable. Her marriage is crumbling, and she can only think of Laura. She finally goes to New York to find her, but nine years have passed. Both women's voyages of self-discovery turn out very differently than they pictured.

While Beebo and Jack could very easily come off as overly familiar, one-dimensional characters, Anna Foss Wilson and David Greenspan (yes, that David Greenspan) give these two depth and subtleties only hinted at in the script. In some ways, their portrayals are more fleshed out than those of Laura and Beth, played by Marin Ireland and Autumn Dornfeld, respectively. Laura sniffles her way through most of the first hour, and Beth cowers in the face of self-discovery. Thankfully, Laura eventually grows some spine and Beth learns to face her inner demons, but not without a little too much whining. Their reunion is, well, real— full of the awkwardness and bitterness that one could expect from two lovers reuniting after nine years. Jack and Beebo serve as both the linchpins of self-discovery and the comic relief, giving the production an air of gravitas it would otherwise lack.

The set is strictly utilitarian, shifting as it does between various locales, but Jill BC DuBoff's lush sound design, full of period music, more than makes up for the bare stage. Leigh Silverman's direction keeps the action tight, centering the audience's attention on the intricate relationships between the characters rather than on the lesbian shock value. Though adapted from pulp fiction, there's very little pulp about this play which was successful enough to extend long enough for me to catch it.. Hopefully it will be extended yet again.

Beebo Brinker Chronicles
Written by Kate Moira Ryan and Linda S. Chapman
Directed by Leigh Silverman
With Autumn Dornfeld (Beth), Marin Ireland (Laura), Anna Foss Wilson (Beebo), Bill Dawes (Charlie/Burr), David Greenspan (Jack), and Carolyn Baeumler (Marcie/Lili/Nina)
Set Design: Rachel Hauck
Costume Design: Theresa Squire
Lighting Design: Nicole Pearce
Sound Design: Jill BC DuBoff
Running Time: Ninety minutes, no intermission
The Fourth Street Theatre, 83 East Fourth Street; 212-352-3101
Extended through October 28; Oct 22, 24 and 27 at 7 pm; Oct 24 and 28 at 3 pm; and Oct 26 and 27 at 10 pm
Tickets $35
Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on October 21st performance

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