By Eva Trieger
SAN DIEGO -If you’re old enough to remember Virginia Slims cigarettes, then “Rapture, Blister, Burn” will be a great blast from the past. Clearly, playwright, Gina Gionfriddo, did her homework, and delivers a well-researched, detailed time line of the Feminist Movement. It is no surprise that she was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, and a Lucille Lortel Fellowship. This writer has also received accolades for her work on “House of Cards,” and boasts an Obie award.
The plot explores the question, perhaps first raised two generations ago: Can women have it all? Or maybe the truer quest is for the right path. Should a woman be a homemaker and be content to care for her husband and children? Or, should she celebrate the arduous hard-won triumphs of Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem et al, and pursue a professional career, eschewing a family and husband?
Three generations of women interact, debate and examine how women and their options have changed since the 1970s. Catherine (Paige Lindsey White), Gwen (Sandy Campbell) and Don (Shawn Law) attended graduate school together. In the intervening years, Gwen and Don married, had two children, and have been scraping by, Don, earning a mediocre salary and refusing to grow up. He succumbs to vices such as drinking too much, getting high and watching porn. Gwen has embraced her role of housewife and has quit drinking as she tries to keep her family out of debt. She claims, referring to husband Don that she is the “keeper of his To Do List.” Though she believes you can’t “outsource homemaking” she does have Avery (Jennifer Parades), a babysitter. This brazen young woman is a feisty, self-possessed college student who is “hooking up” with a boyfriend with whom she is making a reality TV show. Gwen sends her packing when Avery shows up to babysit with a black eye. That is not a model Gwen wants for her children.
Catherine returns following her mother’s heart attack. Anticipating losing her ailing mom, she takes a sabbatical from teaching and writing books about feminism. Somewhat irreverent and twinkling, Alice Croll (Susan Denaker), Catherine’s mother, tells her daughter, “Your life begins when your mother dies.” Catherine retorts, “Who says that?” and her mom replies, “My mother said it to me!” As Catherine has remained single, Alice is her only family. The author offers a class while she is in town and the two students who register are Gwen and Avery. The syllabus covers three waves of Feminism from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to exploring gender in modern horror films of the 1990s.
The “classroom” is Alice’s home and each class session includes discussion which becomes intensely personal, and martinis at 5 (except that Gwen gets a Shirley Temple). Alice joins in the discussion sharing the perspective of her generation and offering advice to the younger women. Avery doesn’t comprehend “Why is easy a bad thing?” and Catherine’s mother explains, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” This is baffling to Avery, who doesn’t see the correlation. She prefers the free love and lack of commitment….until she learns her boyfriend is not exclusive.
In each session, characters open up and reveal their inner turmoil, honest fears and deepest desires. Ultimately, there is no true answer to the question of “What do women want?” but merely the revelation that Gwen and Catherine covet each other’s lives. Catherine, Gwen and Don discuss this development and the women opt to change places.
The play has a wealth of quips, and witty exchanges. This reviewer’s take-away is that there is no one path that will satisfy everyone, but feminine progress must be acknowledged and celebrated. If not for vocal women such as Lucretia Mott and Betty Friedan, women today may still not command respect, equal pay or equal opportunity. It is important for young women today to understand that these rights and freedoms were not always available and that it is only in the last 50 years that woman have gained a voice in government and societal decisions that have significant impact on their own lives, and the population as a whole. And while I can’t condone cigarette smoking, I must agree with the tobacco industry’s advertisement, “You’ve come a long way, Baby!”
Rapture, Blister and Burn is showing at The San Diego Repertory Theater through May 15, 2016.
Tickets are available at 619.544.1000 or at sdrep.org
*
Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. She may be contacted via eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)