On the Verge, or the Geography of Yearning
There actually were Victorian “lady explorers,” and a historical look at those pioneers might have made an excellent feminist play. But Overmyer and director Greg Kolack give these women a contemporary feeling from the start. Too modern and unrestrained for 1888, they’re nevertheless too conservative for 1985, with their ideas about a woman’s place in the world: Fanny and Mary are both appalled by the trousers idea.
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By the time the women land firmly at Woody’s Esso station circa 1955, all pretense to freshness has vanished. Why 1955? If the play were truly a feminist work, Overmyer would have dropped the women into 1945 to meet Rosie the Riveter or 1969 to explore free love. Instead he puts them in a temporal and spatial oasis–they land in the middle of nowhere, probably off Route 66 in the Nevada desert–devoid of political context and drowning in pop references. There’s no McCarthy, no Red scare, no indication from the playwright that perhaps 1955 (and 1985, to say nothing of 2002) is perhaps just as conservative as the cloistered Victorian era.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Greg Kolack.
