I’ve always suspected that there is an intense interaction among women when they are together with no men present. I’ve read about it, and I admit to being a bit envious. Men rarely “let their hair down” and speak emotional truths to each other when in groups with no women present. I’ve never actually been in a group of women when no men were present, of course, so I’ve had to reconstruct the energy and the communication from readings and from dramas.
This drama, “Five Women Wearing The Same Dress” that is playing now at the Little Theatre at the Lakeport Fairgrounds, is a dynamite example. It is a really funny and insightful play, written by Alan Ball who also wrote American Beauty and Six Feet Under. The five women really come alive on stage. The acting is wonderful, and since one of the actresses has never been on stage before, that has to have something to do with the excellence of the directing, by Toni Stewart.
In the last scene of the play, the only male in the production appears, and mainly to illustrate the way that the sexual dynamic between men and women can cause plans and philosophies to crumble. Timothy Fischer, who occupies this somewhat functional role, is a really fine actor, and strongly helps to sew up the raveled sleeve.
Three of the actresses have been on stage in Lake County many times before and have already proven their talent and skill, and have already displayed their remarkable nerve.
This is not a safe play, to see or to act in. Maheanani Phillips-Blair, Laura Ewing Barnes and Michele Chapman are not just remarkable actresses, they are not afraid to let you see them with their hair down. You laugh with them and at them at the same time. The story line is ludicrous, but true to life.
The laughter is frequent and hearty, and much of it comes from recognizing real life lit by stage lights. The language is very frank, and if you are easily distracted by gross words or ideas, you might not like this play, and if you are under 18 you aren’t even allowed to see it. I can’t help thinking that there is a lot to be learned from this production, and I wish that I had been exposed to it when I was sixteen or seventeen. I really had no idea at all of how women’s minds work, then. Perhaps I still don’t, but I have gotten my eyes opened a little bit more by Five Women.
Well, perhaps I shouldn’t peddle this business of “Learning Something” from this play. After all, some people aren’t attracted to that, and for them I wish to assure that it is a rollicking farce. You don’t have to take any of it seriously. Different people could be offended by some things in it, but everybody gets to laugh. It is no insult to anyone’s intelligence at any time.
I saw some of myself in things said by these women about men, but they did it so well that I could laugh at it. You will too. You will have two more weekends to get in there and be entertained, Feb. 20-22, and Feb. 27-Mar. 1, at seven for evening shows on Friday and Saturday, and two PM for matinees on Sunday.
