The ride of her life. - Tiffany Theater, West Hollywood, California - Review - theater review

With her solo show and her "Lesbian Brothers," Lisa Kron turns her life story into art

"For autobiographical material to work well [onstage], it has to use your own details to illuminate something that's of resonance to the audience," says Obie award-winning monologuist Lisa Kron. And resonate with audiences Kron has. Her solo show 2.5 Minute Ride (playing at the Tiffany Theater in West Hollywood, Calif.) has won over theatergoers and critics alike, including those in Boston, New York, and London.

Kron's success is part message, part messenger, says playwright Paula Vogel. "Lisa combines the sweetness of the Midwest girl next door with the subversive humor of the Midwest town outcast," the Pulitzer Prize winner observes.

To that end, Kron's 70-minute Ride mingles her identities as an out lesbian and an American daughter while attempting to make spiritual sense of her father's history as a Holocaust survivor. As the play unfolds, Kron accompanies him on a return trip to Auschwitz, deftly paralleling the experience with a traditional family outing--a roller-coaster ride at an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio.

Given the power of her story, it's no surprise that Ride evokes as many tears as laughs. Kron, a stand-up comedian by training, confesses that she felt hesitant at first about performing such bittersweet material. "Since I've always had a facility with humor," she explains, "I've been wary of things that felt vulnerable, of leaving irony behind."

What enabled Kron to explore Ride's darkness, she says, "was working with the Brothers." Kron doesn't mean her biological brothers but the Five Lesbian Brothers, the theatrical troupe she founded 11 years ago. Politically hip and perennially edgy, the Brothers have never shied away from risky material--a quality that gets them lots of respect in New York's downtown scene. "They're the Marx Brothers meet the Guerrilla Girls times five," Vogel quips. "I'm a Five Lesbian Brother wanna-be."

Kron herself plans to rejoin the Brothers soon. After Ride's Los Angeles run (scheduled through March 19), she tours Baltimore and Seattle, then returns home to resume developing a new play with the troupe, a commission for the New York Shakespeare Festival titled Scary Love. It makes for a breathless schedule, but Kron says she's fine with that. "Between my solo work and my work with the Brothers, I've been onstage an incredible amount of hours," she says, laughing. "But it's what I love about theater. Every night you have a chance to go out there and try to do it a little better.

To learn more about Lisa Kron, the Five Lesbian Brothers, and 2.5 Minute Ride, visit www.advocate.com

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