Jessica Damouni, Emily Yetter, Chandler Cummins, and Noelle Urbano (Photo courtesy of New Forms LA)
Reviewed by Julia Stier
New Forms LA
Through March 29
RECOMMENDED
“Watch out for those Americans and their secret lesbian societies – they’ll snatch you right up!”
Take a seat with New Forms LA as they serve up their latest immersive theatrical experience, a site-specific rendition of 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood (with contributions by Sarah Gitenstein, Mary Hollis Inboden, Meg Johns, Thea Lux, Beth Stelling, and Maari Suorsa), directed by Marissa Pattullo.
Welcome to the Annual Quiche Breakfast of The Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein. The year is 1956, and we are a group of widows and “sisters” who revere the Egg – both literally and symbolically – and live by the mantra “No men, no meat, all manners!”
The meeting is led by our board of officers – the commanding Lulie Stanwyck, President (Noelle Urbano); the poised Wren Robin, Events Chairwoman (Emily Yetter); the British newbie Ginny Cadbury (Jessica Damouni); the photo-ready Dale Prist, historian (Nicole Ohara); and finally, the uber-prepared creator of the prize-winning quiche, Vern Shultz, Building & Grounds Chairman (played this weekend only by Pattullo). These five rule with a funny and firm hand, and these lovingly ridiculous characters are played with great sincerity by our quintet.
(A quick testament to the effectiveness of the play’s immersive element: On occasion, there were funny lines where I refrained from laughing because it would be improper at a gathering with society ladies. And then I remembered I was audience to a work of fiction — no one would scold me for breaking decorum. So I resumed letting the laughs slip out.)
When the winner of the year’s quiche breakfast is announced, everyone is served a slice of the winning recipe. As the forks and plates are cleared, the room is plunged into darkness, followed by an alarm. The society ladies know exactly what this means: nuclear war is upon us.
Another bomb is metaphorically dropped when, in a fit of egg-mania, Ginny attacks and devours the remaining quiche with a skill and vigor that would get her cast in a sapphic remake of Heated Rivalry. It’s a moment that truly brings down the house! After that display, the facade quickly drops. None of the women present are widows. Some have never even been married. No, “widows” and “sisters”are both just code words for lesbians!
A relatively new play, originally published in 2014, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche feels scarily prescient in its depiction of oppressed communities finding solidarity with each other in secret, the looming threat of war, and an underlying fear coloring even moments of levity.
Pattullo transforms the venue, the Glendale Church of the Brethren, into the Society’s meeting room, thus allowing the audience to share in the high stakes situation that the club finds itself in. It’s a brilliant choice. When the “bomb” went off outside the window, I jumped. I’m not sure I would have had the same reaction watching from a proscenium stage.
Glendale Church of the Brethren, 606 N. Pacific Ave., Glendale. Opens Thurs., March 19; Thurs.-Sun., 7 pm; thru March 29. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5-lesbians-eating-a-quiche-tickets-1983829542565?aff=oddtdtcreator
