As Pride month rolls along, San Francisco’s Marsh Theater is featuring a pair of vastly different solo performances, both told from the perspective of the lesbian experience.
Marga Gomez’ one-woman play called "Swimming with Lesbians" is a wacky adventure story about a “lesbian cruise ship in an absurd universe,” with Gomez playing all eight different characters. Among the assorted elements, the characters are on the ocean, they go to Greece, they become lost, they eat at buffets.
Gomez described it as a fusion of "The L Word," "SpongeBob" and "The Love Boat" — and devoid of heavy themes, deeper messages of any political meanderings. It’s all about fun.
“This particular piece is a joyful story of lesbian imagination,” Gomez said. “I think we need more of those.”
While Gomez’ play may be lighthearted, its intention is a deeper thing. Gomez lamented the lack of lesbian-friendly entertainment available. When lesbians do turn up in plays or films, the veteran performer said, they are often narrowly typecast.
“Just years ago, you’d never see a lesbian in a play or movie unless she was going to die," Gomez smirked.
On the same stage, Terry Baum’s play, "Hick; A Love Story," is a much different lens. The veteran performer’s play delves into the secret lesbian affair between first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hickok, documented through more than 2,000 letters Roosevelt sent Hickok, now in the National Archives.
“I think it’s just amazing that these two women took this risk,” said Baum, sitting in the darkened theater.
Baum’s treatment explores Hickok’s hand-wringing over the relationship, ranging from bliss to guilt to fear — fretting over the potential of losing her job and landing in jail as a result of the affair. Historians are torn over whether the letters indicate a lesbian relationship, but Baum said they convinced her it was. She received permission from the Franklin Roosevelt archives to incorporate the letters into her play.
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“So they make it extremely clear that they had this secret romance,” said Baum. “You can see it was a very passionate affair because you see that in Eleanor’s letters.”
Like Gomez’ work, Baum’s play is another entry in the painfully thin archives of the lesbian experience.
“It’s part of lesbian history and we don’t have enough of that,” said Baum. “Almost all of that doesn’t exist. There’s no evidence of it.”
As an actor and comedian who has performed throughout the world, Gomez is happy to just deliver a laugh. With so many heavy issues at play in the world, she reasons maybe an absurdist lesbian cruise ship is exactly what people need.
“When they want to have a beer and kick back and see a silly show about a cruise ship, a lesbian cruise ship, then they come to me," Gomez said. "I make them feel better for an hour and forget their troubles.”
"Swimming with Lesbians" runs June 7 through June 22. "Hick: A Love Story" runs June 9 through July 14.
