Laundry and Bourbon/ Lone Star

Sometimes theatre shows us slices of our own lives, and sometimes it shows us things a little less familiar. It’s more of the latter in James McLure’s double bill of Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star . In McLure’s 1970’s Texas, the women are confined to housework and gossip (with a little alcohol thrown in), while the men cat about, brawlin’ and drinkin’ and generally misbehavin’. The three actresses that tell the women’s story are all strong (Leslie Milne is a particular stand-out as the harried mother of some monstrous children), but their age disparity is a little disconcerting considering they are meant to have gone to school together. The men’s story is both amusing and a little upsetting---the laughs come from their brutish/boyish behavior and the upset comes from one of the character’s experiences during the Vietnam War. Both plays provide interesting snapshots of a different time and place. –Kate Watson