半岛体育 PrideThe Five Lesbian Brothers Talk Brave Smiles, Lesbian Tropes, and LaughterLisa Kron, Moe Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, and Peg Healey discuss their satire ahead of Pride Play鈥檚 primetime presentation June 22.
By
Dan Meyer
June 17, 2020
Though the trope of death and unhappiness in lesbian stories pervades theatre to this day, The Five Lesbian Brothers are anything but morose. In fact, during a May 31 virtual roundtable with 半岛体育, Tony winner Lisa Kron, Moe Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, and Peg Healey, who are the five brothers, are positively gleeful to be reunited.
(Watch the full video interview above.)
Laughing as they adjust to the world of Zoom, the quintet discuss the upcoming live stream reading of Brave Smiles...Another Lesbian Tragedy, which airs June 22 at 7 PM ET at 半岛体育.com/PridePlays as part of the Pride Plays Festival, in a presentation directed by Leigh Silverman.
The play鈥攁 satire of tragic lesbian stories鈥攆ollows five orphan girls over five decades, taking them from the Tilue-Pussenheimer Academy to their inevitable dark conclusion.
鈥�Brave Smiles was the second play that we wrote,鈥� says Kron, who won a Tony for her work as the book writer and lyricist for Fun Home. 鈥淲e had made a play together called Voyage to Lesbos, and nearly killed each other; but Brave Smiles was so fun to make.鈥�
From Left: Leigh Silverman, Babs Davy, Lisa Kron, Peg Healey, Dominique Dibbell, and Maureen Angelos
Back in 1992, when the play was first written, the world of lesbian narratives was limited in scope, if present at all. 鈥淚 remember there was a kiss on Law & Order and everything stopped in the Lower East Side because all of the lesbians wanted to watch the kiss,鈥� says Healey.
Looking into the shortage of lesbian narratives and the histories of ones that existed, The Five Lesbian Brothers threw themselves into research, exploring works like M盲dchen in Uniform, The Children鈥檚 Hour, The Well of Loneliness, and Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.
The connective thread? 鈥淚n every single narrative, the lesbian has to die,鈥� says Kron.
鈥淎lso, that lesbians are not funny,鈥� says Davy, because they鈥檙e too busy getting their story across. 鈥淚 remember when we started, I was like, 鈥業s this too simple?鈥� Every time it looks like they鈥檙e going to make it鈥攂e able to have a fruitful life and be in love and happy and accepted鈥攊t falls apart.鈥�
And it turns out, that鈥檚 exactly what the play needed to be. First developed at Wow Caf茅 Theatre in NYC鈥檚 East Village, the Brothers performed the show in four NYC productions and toured it for years. At this point, the play is in all five of the Brothers' DNA.
The work and legacy they鈥檝e left brings them immense pride, says Angelos. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a scene in the play where they take a blood oath, the five schoolgirls, and every time I do that play I get verklempt because that鈥檚 how I feel about these gals,鈥� says Dibbell.
鈥淚 feel like everything in my theatre career and my path to becoming an artist comes from Wow and the women who were there,鈥� says Kron. 鈥淎nd that place was invisible to the rest of the world for a long time. Those artists who inspired us still have not gotten their due. So to be in Pride Plays is such a moving thing, and to be included as representatives of that world is really meaningful.鈥�
Of course, performing Brave Smiles on StreamYard isn鈥檛 without its challenges. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard on the old ladies,鈥� jokes Kron.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a mirror, so it鈥檚 backwards on screen,鈥� says Davy. 鈥淚 got notes and notes on my notes, like, 鈥楧on鈥檛 slap her that way, she鈥檚 over there!鈥欌�
Madcap and slapdash humor is something The Five Lesbian Brothers make sure are a part of the work, but it鈥檚 not the only thing. 鈥淥ne thing in our approach was that even though we were pretty campy and satirists, there was always some kind of line that all five of us seemed to know,鈥� says Dibbell.
As Kron explains, the satire emanates from the show鈥檚 monologues and the emotion comes from the centrality of a lesbian perspective. The lesbianism already exists in the world of Brave Smiles; no one is coming out and discovering their sexuality. In the play, for example, headmistress Frau Von Pussenheimer espouses rage and grief about her sexual frustration while the student鈥檚 favorite teacher, Miss Phillips, embraces the female form and sexuality.
鈥淲hen I saw it [at Pride Plays last year], I was like, 鈥極h this still has so much currency,鈥� says Kron. 鈥淚 was like 鈥楾his play is as fresh as a daisy.鈥� Sexism isn鈥檛 over. Lesbian invisibility isn鈥檛 quite as total as it was, but it鈥檚 not like the patriarchy has been dismantled.鈥�
鈥淲e were embarrassed because we were laughing so hard,鈥� admits Davy of revisiting the work.
鈥淲e were like, 鈥榃ho wrote this? It鈥檚 hilarious!鈥欌� adds Kron.
Even separated by thousands of miles, these women are hilarious, even when they鈥檙e not performing. 鈥淚 do think one of the hardest parts of the performance is just not laughing because it really is the foundation of our work,鈥� says Healey. 鈥淲e love to harp on a stupid joke and make each other laugh.鈥�
Even the name鈥擳he Five Lesbian Brothers鈥攊s a joke in itself. 鈥淥ne of our hallmarks is gender-play, with drag back and forth,鈥� says Dibbell. 鈥淐alling ourselves Brothers with the irony and juxtaposition made sense.鈥� The name was cemented when Dibbell drew a cartoon of the fivesome under which she wrote "The Five Lesbian Brothers."
Healey loved the name The Five Lesbian Brothers because it made people squirm, like the receptionist at Simon & Schuster who whispered 鈥渓esbian鈥� over the phone to announce their arrival in the lobby, or the gay boy at Disneyland who had to ask his manager if he could put their name on a Mickey ears hat (sadly, he couldn't).
Nowadays, people aren鈥檛 so afraid to say the word 鈥渓esbian鈥濃攁lthough it still doesn鈥檛 seem to the playwrights that LGBTQ+ folks are interested in labeling themselves as such.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been talking about how a lot of new queer people, women, reject the word lesbian,鈥� says Dibbell. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 still because of societal structure, 鈥榣esbian鈥� on the tongue sounds like some kind of disease, or condition.鈥�
鈥淟ike a tasty treat!鈥� interjects Angelos. 鈥淐an Lesbian On the Tongue be the title of our next play?鈥� adds Healey.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 how the soup is made,鈥� says Kron, referring to their creative process. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how it happens.鈥�
Whether or not Lesbian on the Tongue becomes their next big hit, it鈥檚 a sure thing that whatever this quintet do next, it will be hilarious, meaningful, and a treat.
Brave Smiles...Another Lesbian Tragedy is one of four mainstage presentations of the 2020 Pride Plays Festivalfrom producers Doug Nevin and , festival director Nick Mayo, and associate director Nic Cory. The other free broadcasts on 半岛体育 include TheMen From the Boys by Mart Crowley June 26 and Masculinity Max by MJ Kaufman June 27. Donja R. Love's one in two live streamed June 12. The festival also includes 11 other plays in development that will receive private readings throughout the month of June. The 半岛体育 Pride Spectacular Concert will air June 28, free on 半岛体育.
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