Since 2004 Bread & Water Theatre has put on the Rainbow Theater Festival, a series of performances generally centered around one of the colors in the rainbow flag, a symbol for the LGBT community since the 1970's. This year's color is yellow, to represent the sun, and the 2009 selections included Jonathan Tolins' "Last Sunday in June," dealing with gay marriage - and divorce; the sixth installment of J.R. Teeter's "The Lambda Project: Let the Light Shine On," featuring real-life stories from LGBT people; and "Raincheck," Claudia Allen's story of a small-town lesbian and her former crush. "June" will return for an encore run in July, and "Raincheck" is currently in production at New Life Presbyterian.
"Charming" is the first word that comes to mind when describing "Raincheck." Allen has a real gift for carving out fully realized, believable characters and feeding them folksy yet authentic-sounding dialogue, and some wry black humor. The story focuses on Gwen (Nicole Oliveri MacBay), an out lesbian in a small Southern town who is also a visiting nurse. One of Gwen's patients is Grandma (Micky Markert), whose granddaughter Thema (Lindsay Weldon) was Gwen's childhood best friend and high-school crush. Gwen and Thema haven't spoken in years, ever since Gwen made a pass at her that Thema rejected. Now Thema is back living with Grandma, hiding from the latest in a string of loser husbands she keeps hitching her wagon to, and she and Gwen quickly rekindle their friendship, which of course brings back old feelings for both of them.
The underlying message at the heart of "Raincheck" is the special bond shared between two women, whether they be sisters, friends, or lovers. That's further evidenced by the subplot between Grandma and her sister, Flora (Joan Van Ness), who suffers from severe dementia and alternates between obsessive counting and reliving traumatic moments from the Great Depression. In many ways, the relationship between Grandma and Flora is just as moving - if not more -than the emotional dance between Gwen and Thema. Both Markert and Van Ness turn in memorable, nuanced performances, completely disappearing into their roles. These are two spectacular character actresses, and even though they barely interact directly with one another (since Flora is rarely mentally in the room), they underscore just how precious and fleeting time is.
The relationship between Gwen and Thema is more complicated, both intentionally and unintentionally. This kind of story has certainly been told before (Terry Moore's graphic novel series "Strangers in Paradise" comes immediately to mind), although Allen's exploration of the pressures of being gay in a small town is appreciated.
MacBay embodies a natural outward awkwardness but inner strength that befits a woman who is always on her guard, always viewed as an outsider. But Weldon is somewhat less convincing as a lost woman regretting decisions she made out of fear. She does a great job reflecting Thema's growing confidence as she takes small steps toward standing on her own. But as the play built to its big emotional climax on opening night, she seemed uncomfortable, especially when it came time for the (exceedingly chaste) kiss. A certain amount of tentativeness is understandable for two people acting on feelings they've suppressed for years, but there was a distinct lack of passion or excitement in that scene, and it didn't ring quite true. That odd dramatic speed bump aside, "Raincheck" offers a sweet, smart look at a story that probably happens more often than anyone knows.