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Before Lesbians by Elana Gartner

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Recommendations

  • Cheryl Bear:
    13 Mar. 2021
    “ A moving and beautifully portrayed love story during a time when there's a world pulling them together and apart simultaneously. Excellent. ”
  • Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich:
    20 Aug. 2020
    “ A poignant and beautifully-crafted story of love's discovery in a time before language helped women navigate the new and surprising revelations about lesbian relationships. The irrepressable romance between Charlotte and Vivian in the Civil War era unfolds in real time with exquisite and passionate moments of self discovery. Couldn't put it down. Would love to see it staged! ”
  • Emma Goldman-Sherman:
    16 Aug. 2020
    “ Before Lesbians is a beautiful play that Gartner crafts with great skill. The characters are blessed with both internal and external conflicts that Gartner teases out line by line so that the characters have to reinvent themselves before our eyes. This transformation is both enchanting, exhilarating and heartbreaking. Read it, produce it, let it live on many stages. And may we all find ways to re-imagine ourselves inspired by this play. ”
  • Shanti Reinhardt:
    20 Jun. 2020
    “ Before Lesbians is a heartbreaking epistolary chronicle of love and connection. Set against the Civil War, two women fall in love and explore what was possible and what was impossible in their time. Gartner’s dialogue is reverent to the time yet beautifully accessible. Highly recommend. ”
  • Mark Loewenstern:
    3 Feb. 2020
    “ This play takes our universal human experience of plunging into love's uncharted waters and magnifies it ten times. Gartner shows us so clearly how unprepared Charlotte and Vivian are for their love, how overwhelmed they are by it, how their whole world denies it, and that makes their struggle for it all the more compelling. Highly recommend! ”
  • Liz Amberly:
    3 Nov. 2019
    “ This is a poignant and passionate story of a secret relationship between two women who wait for their husbands to return from the Civil War. The women’s unique personalities, talents, experiences and fears draw them together and also keep them apart. The danger of the war is always present, and the women must navigate the challenges of society, violence, religion and love. It’s lovely and heartbreaking! ”
  • David Hansen:
    23 Apr. 2019
    “ This play might have been titled "Inventing Lesbians," as our Civil War era protagonists discover in themselves something they had never had reason to believe has ever existed before, and create without guidance a language for a desire, a passion, and a lasting devotion. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking love story, and one I highly recommend! ”