Cherry Manhattan Productions' Beebo Brinker Chronicles: Lipstick Pulp

Genre pulp is an oddly maligned substrata of the Arts for reasons that should have been abandoned long ago. Sure, the level of talent normally found within these works leave a lot to be desired, but when one takes a closer look at the ideas that can be found amid the clunky execution, genre pulp could be seen as the motherlode for progressive thought and acceptance that typically arrives a generation or two ahead of a given movement. While Saul Bellow was out making the psyche of white males in mid-life crisis mode readable, Robert Heinlein was laying the foundation for a polyamorous lifestyle, to use one pedestrian example.

To cite another, the first openly homosexual character to be included in television, and portrayed in a sympathetic light, could be found in Soap, the 70s sitcom, whose character Jodie (played by Billy Crystal) was allowed to simply be gay. The character's primary storyline concerned his love affair with a popular all-American football quarterback, whose playboy reputation kept him from coming out of the closet. (For the moment we'll ignore a subsequent Jodie storyline that had him falling in love with a woman.)

Written in the 60s, Ann Bannon's Beebo Brinker novels predated most modern depictions of lesbians -- there may have been lesbian characters in fiction prior to Beebo, but none depicted the women in that world as honestly nor in as straightforward a manner as Bannon does in her pulp novels. Amid the high emotion and purple romantic passages, the real dilemmas and moral choices lesbians faced in a society that tended to condemn or pretended to ignore those who dared to live such a life as openly as they could are brought to light.

Cherry Manhattan Productions' presentation of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, currently in production at Rebar, is full of that sense of revelation; though the ideas and situations presented are nothing new in 21st Century America, the fact that they were in existence that long ago is both refreshing and comforting. Among the revelations is a central marriage of convenience between a gay male and a lipstick lesbian that comes complete with children.

As long as the production resides in that revelatory sense, or when it depicts the titillating sequences when two women are seducing each other, Beebo comes to heightened life. There's a palpable charge to moments like when mynx-with-sharp-claws Lili (Donna Stewart, who also co-produced) plays havok at a house party Beebo is throwing, or when Beth (Opal Peachy) meets up with Laura (Polly Wood), the paramour she's been separated from for nearly a decade, in a confrontation that quickly escalates to something more.

In other words, this production comes alive when it follows the mood established by Rhonda J. Soikowski's Beebo, who carries the show with her knowing leering smile as she slinks from one possible hook up to the next.

When Beebo steers away from its lead character, the proceedings get much murkier. The company has a hard time establishing the emotional atmosphere of the more mundane day-to-day realities the characters encounter. Is it a heightened melodrama, or is it extremely realistic? Is this an honest representation of the world at large, or is it supposed to be soap-opera campy? Given how much fun is had when it delves into the campy side, its seemingly obvious where the production's loyalties lie, making the more serious moments stand out all the more. This schizophrenic nature is truly evident when it comes to dealing with the male characters in the story, who tend to remain one-note and stilted. Their presence, while necessary, detracted from the whole experience.

Despite the uneven nature of the production, however, Cherry Manhattan's production remains vibrant for the picture of acceptance it represents. It's an engaging view of how our conflicted culture behaved when faced with people who acknowledged their differences and refused to conform, and how their mores and choices were tolerated as long as the participants were willing to remain in the shadows and not bring attention to themselves.

As such, Cherry Manhattan is to be commended for committing to this production, flaws and all; while it could have used a surer hand in its presentation and characterizations, as a document of a time and mindset, it is an enjoyable diversion.

Through Saturday at 7:30p.m. // Rebar, 1114 Howell Street // $18 - $25