The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant * Written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder * Directed by Ian Belton * Starring Rebecca Wis0cky, Tami Dixon, Anita Durst durst v. Archaic A past tense and a past participle of dare. * Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. (through February 18) You may have seen the 1972 film The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, which was directed by this play's author, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but be warned that this sleek off-Broadway production is quite a different animal. Directed by Ian Belton, the current edition of Bitter Tears opens with Marlene (Anita Durst), a chic, mute, submissive sub·mis·sive adj. Inclined or willing to submit. sub·mis  sive·ly adv.sub·mis maid, preparing for aging femme femme adj. Slang Exhibiting stereotypical or exaggerated feminine traits. Used especially of lesbians and gay men. n. 1. Slang One who is femme. 2. Informal A woman or girl. fatale Petra (Rebecca Wisocky) to wake. Once she does, the play is a hilarious contrast of Marlene's silence and Petra's vociferous demands. It's a shame that the play doesn't stay in this fine moment, as the addition of Karin (Tami Dixon)--an aspiring model who is Petra's obsession--and Petra's mother, Valerie (Joy Franz), threatens to turn the play into a bad sitcom. Dixon is not quite tall or charismatic enough to be Karin, and Franz plays Petra's mother like Ethel Mertz Ethel Mertz is a fictional television character played by Vivian Vance in the 1950s American sitcom I Love Lucy. Ethel was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico [Vance's real hometown]. Her maiden name was Ethel Mae Potter. . Bitter Tears, which portrays a dysfunctional sapphic passion, isn't really about lesbians per se, and Fassbinder certainly never meant to provide positive lesbian role models. Nonetheless, Belton channels this cult classic into an enjoyable portrait of the selfish theatricality of being a victim of love. Che is the author of Deborah Harry. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion