Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy

Vivere Productions is proud to announce their revival of Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy, written by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Ranging from the absurd to the all-out hilarious, the play is a tour of how lesbians have been represented from 1920 to 1971 in media and in society.

This revival, directed by Jason S. Little, features Leah Bonvissuto, Christina Hakim, Nicole Hayes, Victoria Healy and Maggie Neuwald. These five actresses, all recent graduates from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, portray all 17 roles! The play originally premiered in 1992 at the WOW Café with a cast consisting of The Five Lesbian Brothers: Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey and Lisa Kron.

Brave Smiles… begins in a German orphanage, remarkably similar to the school portrayed in the 1958 German film, Maedchen in Uniform and continues onward through the history of lesbianism as it has been viewed by those outside of it. The audience visits a Parisian cafe with a Dietrich-esqe performer in drag, a Bowery soup kitchen, a Rizzoli book party and a rehearsal of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour on a Broadway stage starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. Complete with fatal accidents and suicides, the audience witnesses one tragic death after another as the characters come to terms with their sexuality and the realization that their star-crossed love affairs will never come to be. The play, while being hilariously funny, carries a strong message regarding the portrayal of “the lesbian” historically and in society today.