Lips Together, Teeth Apart at Chicago Street Theatre

By Terrence McNally

Directors Lisa Formosa-Parmigiano & Tyler Mills

A gay community in Fire Island provides an unlikely setting for two straight couples who are discovered lounging poolside, staring out to sea. Sally (Allison Granat), married to Sam (Michael Glorioso), a New Jersey contractor, has inherited the house from her brother who died of AIDS. Sam’s hyperkinetic sister, Chloe (Anne Nicholls), and her smug, aristocratic husband, John (Erik Gollnick), have come out for the Fourth of July weekend. Amidst the seemingly mundane activities, it becomes apparent that the two men despise each other because John has had an affair with Sally; Sally is panicked and melancholy because she is pregnant and fears miscarriage; and Chloe seems determined to drive them all mad with her incessant babble and enthusiasm for musical comedies. Through monologues unheard by the others, the characters reveal a desperate sense of individual isolation. The only people these four characters find more alien are the gay men partying in the houses on either side of them. As they divert themselves from their own mortality with food, cocktails, The New York Times crossword puzzle, fireworks, charades, and biting jabs at each other and the boys next door, Sally and Sam and John and Chloe find little to celebrate about themselves or their country on its birthday.

Content Note:

• Adult theme and language
• Mention of suicide
• "Pool" located downstage center on floor. Front row center seating area is considered "poolside." Actors will not intentionally splash you. Seating is considered safe.

Thursday, January 25 is Enrichment Night. There will be a post show discussion with Artistic Director, Lisa Formosa-Parmigiano. All audience members are invited.