Bloolips
PICA - The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
Betty Bourne is the founder and leader, Lavinia Co-op is the tall glamorous queen, Bella Bechstein tickles the ivories, Naughty Nickers reigns the scene, and Harmony is the baby. Harmony is the baby because she is baby chubby (“a dumpling Adonis”) and because she’s still just playing Harmony (the program says so: Michael Gunney as Harmony) while the others are who they are and who they play—Betty, Lavinia, Bella, and Naughty Nickers. Bloolips succeeds by such complications (people both playing and being who they are), emphasizing drama’s live here-and-now while proving that theater of any worth