Troupe gives 'Oedipus' a sly, sexy twist

The Greek tragedy "Oedipus," with its themes of incest and patricide, doesn't seem an easy fit for the sly satire that's become a trademark of the Five Lesbian Brothers. Yet "Oedipus at Palm Springs," a darkly humorous take on the tale by the New York-based theater troupe/writing collective known for skewering sexual stereotypes, is the centerpiece of the Theater Offensive's 16th annual Out on the Edge Festival of Queer Theater, which runs through Nov. 10 at the Boston Center for the Arts.

"It's been fascinating to see this work develop," says Abe Rybeck, artistic director of the Theater Offensive, which commissioned "Oedipus at Palm Springs" in 2004 with a company called Out North in Alaska and the National Performance Network. A workshop production was part of the Out on the Edge festival that year, a full production had a successful Off-Broadway run at the New York Theater Workshop in 2005, and now the play returns to Boston with performances Thursday through Oct. 28.

"Oedipus is one of those mythic stories that have become a part of our collective unconscious," says Rybeck. "There's an assumption that they play out in every generation, and this is the Lesbian Brothers' particular twist on it. But along the way, the script has grown, the ending's been tweaked, and I think today, more and more women understand what it's like to be torn between being a mother and being a separate individual."

In this version, the action takes place in a women-only spa in Palm Springs, managed by Joni, a blind woman with a penchant for reading omens in tossed keys (remember Tiresias from the original). Two lesbian couples are reuniting for a weekend-long birthday celebration. Fran and Con, who've been together for a long time, are getting away from their young son and trying to rekindle their romance. Prin and her younger girlfriend, Terri, have gotten serious and are talking about making a commitment to each other, while Terri continues to grieve the death of her adoptive mom and considers a search for her birth mother. Amid splashes of large quantities of tequila and pool water, the women offer hilarious takes on long-term relationships, sex, and desire - until the play takes a dark turn that echoes its ancient Greek origins.

Maureen Angelos, one of the original Brothers, is joining a new company of actors - known as the Ladies Auxiliary - for this production. "It's been fascinating to see how the emphasis changes with new actors and a new director," Angelos says. "I love my Lesbian Brothers, but we've been working together for 17 years and it's great to work with different talent and meet new neuroses. Also, all of the Brothers are now in their 40s, but here, the much younger girlfriend Terri is played by an actress who is actually 25 [Vanessa Soto], which adds a fragility I hadn't seen before."

For Angelos, taking on a story of such mythic proportions was a natural outgrowth of the Lesbian Brothers' earlier work. "We're known for dealing with heavy issues in comic ways," says Angelos. "When we started down this path with 'Oedipus' it was our fondest dream that we would grapple with an icon of western drama," she says. "It's such a masculine play, with huge ideas that have seeped into everyone's consciousness," she says. "But we're women, so it's about different concerns. It's more about Jocasta [Oedipus' mother]."

The setting is particularly appropriate, says Angelos. "Originally the play was set in a Greek diner," she explains, "but when we went to Palm Springs to write together as a group, we discovered this crazy world of 'gays and grays.' It's such an odd landscape, set in the desert, where water is precious but wasted, and the atmosphere is extremely sexualized. There's also this obvious display of material wealth and its suggestion of success we wanted to get across."

For director Kate Caffrey, navigating the play's shift from exuberant comedy to painful tragedy has been her biggest challenge. "I laughed almost all the way through the script," she says, "but I think we have to signal the audience early on that this isn't just a light comedy. It is, after all, called 'Oedipus.' "

Caffrey says Joni, the character who knows more than she says, helps give weight to the comic scenes. "She's funny, but crazy," says Caffrey. "I think she helps make it clear that there's something weird going on. This is not a realistic world."

Having a pool onstage, Caffrey says, also works on more than one level. "It's such a great metaphor. It's both playful and has all these connections to the womb and birth. This isn't easy theater, but I think the payoff makes it absolutely worth the trip."

"Oedipus at Palm Springs" runs Thursday through Oct. 28 in the Out on the Edge Festival of Queer Theater, presented by the Theater Offensive, at the Roberts Studio, Boston Center for the Arts, through Nov. 10. Tickets: $20-$48. 617-933-8600, bostontheatrescene.com, thetheateroffensive.org