entertaining lesbians
a farce in two acts
5 f / 2 m
All Rowena Tuttle wants is a place in polite society. But as a cisgender heterosexual white woman, no one finds her interesting anymore. If she wants to gain admission for her daughter into the uber-exclusive School for Young People, she's going to require a more compelling personal narrative, and a more diverse group of friends.
Aided with significant hesitation by her husband and her personal assistant, Rowena sets her sights on Atlanta's most powerful lesbian couple, determined to forge a friendship. But just before the lesbians arrive, Rowena's past catches up with her: Her long-presumed-dead mother arrives on her doorstep with a mutant farm animal and a passel of inconvenient truths.
Then they find the ransom note. Rowena's daughter has been kidnapped.
But Rowena Tuttle will not be deterred. There are still lesbians to entertain.
The Fall Collection
New York, New York
One-Act Premiere, 2004
Process Theatre Co
Atlanta, Georgia
One-Act version
included in Bad Mama
2005
Springer Opera House
Columbus, Georgia
World Premiere
as Lakebottom Proper
2011
Process Theatre Co
Atlanta, Georgia
as Lakebottom Proper
2011
Stage Crafters
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
as Lakebottom Proper
2016
Out of Box Theatre
Marietta, Georgia
Workshop Production
2019
“The hysterical Entertaining Lesbians puts Frasier, I Love Lucy, and Curb Your Enthusiasm in a blender and adds a dollop of political incorrectness.”
- THEATERMANIA
“After the lesbians arrive and the web of lies becomes increasingly tangled, the audience is able to fully appreciate Rowena's observation that, "Living in a fog of deception is what makes polite society possible.” (...) it plays on its audience's own ideas of privilege, class, and the harmless "white lie" in order to reveal the layers upon layers of farce necessary to live and interact amongst the higher rungs of Southern society.”
- EDGE MEDIA NETWORK
“In Payne’s world, it seems, everyone has dirty little secrets lurking in the back of their closets. And that’s what makes this show so much fun.”
- DAVID MAGAZINE