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Theater Reviews—San Francisco and Beyond

“The Daughters” Reminds Us of Coming Out, Past & Present, at S.F. Playhouse

“The Daughters” Reminds Us of Coming Out, Past & Present, at S.F. Playhouse

October 30, 2019 Amelia Ortega

Patricia Cotter: Lesbians Love, Laugh, Liberate!

by Amelia Ortega

Focused on lesbian and queer community, “The Daughters” asks us to create new language for a new queer history.  Playwright Patricia Cotter splits our attention between the 1950s and 2015, telling the herstory of lesbian rights—moving from private to public space.

We witness the first meeting of the Daughters of Bilitis, in a private home in San Francisco. Then, 60 years later, we join the party at the last night of famed lesbian club, The Lexington, open to the public.

Molly Shaiken, Jeunée Simon, Erin Anderson, & Katie Rubin at the closing night of the Lexington Club in 2015. Photos by Jessica Palopoli

“The Daughters” holds us in a nostalgic queer hug. The power of queer relationships both in the 1950’s and 2000’s is palpable, using creative comedic dialogue to create community. In Act Two, Cotter captures San Francisco’s iconic lesbian bar—with a replica of its infamous bathroom, where women fall in and out of love. It’s a space for possibility and connection.

We watch as bartender Spike (Em Lee Reaves) woos a first timer to dance and then to the bathroom— emerging minutes later with a marriage proposal. Cotter reimagines nights at the Lex—with a comical glance, suggesting that we are all connected to queer history and to spaces like the Lexington Bar.

Molly Shaiken, Olivia Levine, Jeunée Simon, Em Lee Reaves, Katie Rubin, Erin Anderson

Cotter also attempts to criticize the experience of being othered within lesbian community, from 50s racism to present day trans-phobia. In Act One, the only character of color, Vivian (Jeunée Simon) asks, “Is this the Daughters of Bilitis or The Daughters of the American Revolution?” candidly pointing out the overwhelming whiteness of the movement.

Cotter illuminates inherent racism that lesbians of color battle in the 50s and still confront, today.

In Act Two, she takes on non-binary and transgender identity, addressing transphobia in lesbian spaces. She spotlights the urgent need for the queer rights movement to grow and change—in the light of new identities, language, and liberation movements.

Erin Anderson plays a song for Olivia Levine and Em Lee Reaves

However, “The Daughters” falls glaringly short in Vivian’s monologue, where a single woman of color islooking for love. Jeunée Simon, as Vivian, opens a window into her deep insecurities about being loveable, valued, seen, and safe. In her solo, third person speech, Vivian’s voice suddenly shifts, drawing us in: “She worried, would anyone want her?”

Cotter’s choice to write a woman of color’s part in third person distances us from Vivian, losing immediacy and intimacy with her character. But even through the veil of monologue, Jeunée Simon’s performance is powerful, clear, and crisp, engaging us in her experience of the world.

Cotter’s work sets the stage for further dialogue about belonging. We hope that her peek into what builds a community develops into a stronger capacity to address implicit bias, forging wider connections.  After all, women of color are taking up more space and more positions of power in our communities than a single monologue can represent.

  • 048A0791 Spike (Em Lee Reaves, center) gets ready to perform as Gina (Katie Rubin) and Ani (Olivia Levine) look on
  • 048A0707 Leslie (Jeunée Simon), Gina (Katie Rubin), and Natalie (Erin Anderson)
  • 048A0262 Members of the Daughters of Bilitis toast their first meeting. L-R:E velyn (Olivia Levine), Griff (Molly Shaiken), Vivian (Jeunée Simon), Shorty (Em Lee Reaves), Mal (Katie Rubin), and Peggy (Erin Anderson)
  • 048A0034 In 1955, the first meeting of the Daughters of Bilitis gets off to an uneven start as members Evelyn (Olivia Levine), Mal (Katie Rubin), Griff (Molly Shaiken), Shorty (Em Lee Reaves), and Peggy (Erin Anderson) meet for the first time

Photos by Jessica Palopoli

“The Daughters” by Patricia Cotter, directed by Jessica Holt, at S.F. Playhouse, Sandbox Series, at Creativity Theater, San Francisco, through  Saturday, November 2, 2019.  Info: sfplayhouse.org

Cast: Erin Anderson , Martha Brigham, Olivia Levine, Em Lee Reaves, Molly Shaiken, and Jeunée Simon.

Banner photo: Jeunée Simon dancing.


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