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Event
HICK: A Love Story, The Romance of Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt
The Crackpot Crones and Lilith Theater present
Terry Baum in
Hick: A Love Story
The Romance of Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt
Written by Terry Baum with Pat Bond - Directed by Carolyn Myers
January 2-25, 2015
Thurs., Fri., Sat. 8:00 pm / Sun. 5:00 pm (LH: Trying to add a Sat. matinee)
Limited Engagement 16 Performances - Four Weeks Only!
The Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., Berkeley, CA
FIND OUT WHAT KEN BURNS AND PBS DIDN"T WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT ELEANOR ROOSEVELT!
"A COMPELLING ONE-WOMAN SHOW. A REAL LOVE STORY LIKE NO OTHER."
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
"Baum brilliantly captures Hick's transformation as the First Lady returns her affections." " Brilliant and Heartbreaking."
San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Hick is a real love story like no other a compelling, thoroughly researched one-woman show. Terry Baum shares her insights and feelings clearly, honestly, and with passion. A fascinating story that, at last, has come to light."
San Francisco Examiner 2014
The smash hit from San Francisco, HICK: A Love Story, The Romance of Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt, is coming to the East Bay. The Crackpot Crones, known for their feminist theatrics, and Lilith Theater, a women's theatre company, are bringing Terry Baum's solo play to the Berkeley City Club. HICK: A Love Story had a sold-out and critically acclaimed run at the Eureka Theatre last July, and was nominated for a Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Solo Production. HICK: A Love Story, opening January 2, 2015, is written by Terry Baum with Pat Bond, performed by Terry Baum and directed by Carolyn Myers. It has a limited engagement of 16 performances (four weeks only) January 2-25 -Thurs., Fri., Sat. 8:00 pm / Sun. 5:00 pm at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. Berkeley, CA.
HICK: A Love Story explores Lorena Hickok's life, and her love relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt (ER). When the the play opened on July 10, 2014, few people had ever heard of ER's "First Friend," as Lorena Hickok was called by the press. That changed in October with Ken Burns' television documentary, "The Roosevelts." Ken Burns acknowledges the friendship but ignores the possibility of a lesbian relationship. As Baum says, "Why would Eleanor write 'I ache to hold you close' if they weren't lovers? I love my women friends, but I've never ached to hold them close and I'm a lesbian!" Baum's play is based on her research, which included reading everything published by and about Hick, interviewing people who knew her, and poring over original documents in the "Lorena Hickok" files at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.
The First Lady wrote 2336 letters to Hick, beginning in 1933 and only ending with ER's death in 1962. These letters were discovered in 1978, when a researcher opened 18 boxes willed to the FDR Library by Lorena Hickok. The letters document a passionate lesbian relationship between Hick and ER.
In HICK: A Love Story, Baum uses direct quotes from Hick's writing, Eleanor Roosevelt's letters, and a scene from Pat Bond's 1985 play about Hick. Mrs. Roosevelt's letters are read verbatim by actress Paula Barish. Baum brings Hick to life as the renowned journalist, important chronicler of the Great Depression, and lover and "First Friend" of First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.
Technical credits include: Set design by Vola Ruben, lighting design by Stephanie Johnson, costume design by Cathy Bray. This is the first co-production for The Crackpot Crones and Lilith Theater.
Bios:
Terry Baum (Playwright & Actress): Terry began 2013 by touring South Africa with her play, Lesbo Solo! She has had her plays published, produced all over the world, and translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and Swedish. Dos Lesbos (1981, with Carolyn Myers) was the first time many lesbians saw their lives accurately portrayed in the media. It inspired the first anthology of lesbian plays (Places, Please,1985). Baum has toured the U.S., Canada, Europe and Israel as a solo performer. Two of her short films have been shown at the LGBT Film Festival, San Francisco (1997, 2007). Baum ran for Mayor of San Francisco in 2011. She made a difference and had a good time.
Pat Bond (Playwright) Pat's career was launched by her appearance in the landmark documentary about gay people, Word is Out, in 1973. This lesbian actress, writer, and comedienne toured the country in the 70's and 80's, telling stories about her life as a dyke in San Francisco in the 50's, and as a WAC in the army during a witch hunt against lesbians after World War II. For thousands of gay people, Bond was the first out lesbian they had ever seen onstage. Bond wrote and toured solo shows on Gertrude Stein and Lorena Hickok. Pat Bond had had a crush on Eleanor Roosevelt since the age of seven. It was the fulfillment of a life-long passion to play Lorena Hickok.
Carolyn Myers (Director) Carolyn directed her first original play at age 8, and has not stopped since. She has been an active member of four theatre companies: The Isla Vista Community Theater; Lilith San Francisco's internationally renowned women's theatre of the 1970's and 80's; Mixed Company Theater in Ashland, Oregon; and The Hamazons, warrior princesses of comedy, an improv troupe. For 15 years, she directed Planned Parenthood's Teen Theatre in Southern Oregon, for which she received state, regional, and national awards.
The Crackpot Crones: Terry Baum and Carolyn Myers are pioneer funny feminists who have been performing sketch comedy, improvisation, and original plays as The Crackpot Crones since 2008. The Crones have performed in California, New York, Oregon and New Mexico. They have been part of the Women on the Way Festival, the National Queer Arts Festival in San Francisco, the "Lesbians in the 70s" conference at CUNY, the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival and the NY Int'l. Fringe Festival. In 2011, the Crones ran for Mayor of San Francisco, with Terry as candidate and Carolyn as aide-de-camp.
In 2013, they produced four shows, including Crackpot Crones meet The Bride of Lesbostein and Crones for the Holidays: The Sequel. In 2014, they produced HICK: A Love Story, the Romance of Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt in San Francisco to sold out houses and critical acclaim.
Lilith Theater: The Bay Area's internationally reknowned women's theatre of the 1970s and 1980s, was founded in Berkeley, California in 1974, by Terry Baum, Charlotte Colavin, and Shelley Fields. Moving to San Francisco in 1976 and continuing through 1985, it produced collectively created original plays: Lilitheatre, Good Food, Moonlighting, Sacrifices, Exit the Maids, and productions by women playwrights: Pizza, by Michele Linfante, Manifesto by Dacia Morani, The Daughters of Erin, by Carolyn Myers and Elizabeth Roden. A touring company at European and American Theater Festivals, Lilith also gave an impromptu performance to a captive and astonished audience during a ferry strike, and was caught in the Mt. Saint Helens eruption. Now, after a hiatus of a few decades, Lilith Theater returns to the Bay Area theater scene with its production of Terry Baum's solo play: Hick: A Love Story.
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LocationThe Berkeley City Club (View)
2315 Durant Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 12 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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