Propti

SECTION B

SEPTEMBER 16, 1994

Evenings Out

Lesbian brothers

Brotherhood is powerful in lesbian theatre

by Barry Daniels

It is a bitter cold evening in New York at the end of 1993, and I'm in the cozy East Village apartment of one of the Five Lesbian Brothers, a theatre company whose latest work, The Secretaries, has just closed a series of previews at the WOW Cafe Theatre.

After touring the West Coast in the spring, the production opens in September at the New York Theatre Workshop. After seeing a preview, my own sense is that the Five Lesbian Brothers are poised for a major crossover success that will bring their work into the mainstream. This will be an important event for lesbian theatre that has traditionally been more marginalized than the work of gay men.

I make small talk with Peg Healey while we wait the arrival of the other womenMaureen Angelos, Babs Davey, Dominique Dibbel and Lisa Kron. It is clear to me that the women prefer to speak about the company to the press only when all five are present. The women are all in their early thirties and impress me with their thoughtfulness and good humor. Although they speak individually, their voices blend on my tape. If someone hesitates, searching for a word, another often supplies it. Thoughts are passed back and forth in a process that must be analogous to the way they work as a collaborative to create their texts. Although each of the "Brothers" has pursued and continues to pursue an individual career, they have been working together regularly since 1989. They have performed their previous plays, Voyage to Lesbos and Brave Smiles... Another Lesbian Tragedy, at various off-off Broadway theatres in New York and in other major cities. Gradually their work has attracted attention in the press, and they recieved the 1993 New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for outstanding creative achievement.

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