A Life in Three Acts OFF-BROADWAY REVIEWS

NY TIMES
TM
TIME OUT
VARIETY
MUSIC OMH

Opening Night:: March 8, 2010
Closing:: March 28, 2010

Theater: St. Ann's Warehouse / 38 Water Street, New York, NY,

Synopsis:

A Life in Three Acts is a living, breathing history edited and adapted from a series of private conversations between two friends, recreated on stage, reminiscing about the life and times of Bette Bourne. The story moves from Bourne's post-war childhood to his first walk across Trafalgar Square in drag, accompanied by four gorgeous friends, to his seminal role in the formation of the Gay Liberation Front. He recalls his life in a drag commune, the creation of the groundbreaking BLOOLIPS company in London and New York, and more, to reveal an extraordinary portrait of an individual and a movement.

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NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF A Life in Three Acts

Of Youth, Frocks and Politics: A Not-So-Ordinary Life
Charles Isherwood

March 8, 2010: Next stop Dumbo, for those of you participating in the city’s unofficial spring festival of gay theater. You’ve clucked, sorrowed and sighed at “The Pride”: plus ça change, plus c’est la même self-esteem issue. You’ve done the same while admiring the cat claws at the Transport Group’s you-are-there revival of “The Boys in the Band.” Perhaps you’ve also absorbed some history lessons at “The Temperamentals,” and swooned (or snickered) at the dream ballet in “Yank!,” the musical about soldiers in love in World War II.
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THEATERMANIA REVIEW OF A Life in Three Acts

A Life in Three Acts
Dan Bacalzo

March 8, 2010: At 70 years old, Bette Bourne is filled with a vitality that positively radiates from the stage in the autobiographical two-hander, A Life in Three Acts, now at St. Ann's Warehouse. Written and performed with playwright Mark Ravenhill, this utterly charming show details the British drag icon's life and work, and serves as an informative and entertaining history of some of the changes and developments that have affected gay culture in the last 50 or so years.
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TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW OF A Life in Three Acts

Drag Superstar Bette Bourne Bares All in Brooklyn
Time Out New York

March 18, 2010: Pity the homophobes of Brooklyn. If one of them dares mess with iconic drag star Bette Bourne as the latter heads to St. Ann’s Warehouse to perform his sweetly intimate A Life in Three Acts, there’ll be trouble. Bourne may favor a sequined, androgynous top and red lipstick, but don’t be fooled: Under pressure, that demi-feminine facade will slip and out from his mouth will pour a torrent of Cockney “fishwife,” as he puts it.
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VARIETY REVIEW OF A Life in Three Acts

A Life In Three Acts
Mark Fisher

March 7, 2010: Mark Ravenhill likes to use the creative ferment of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to bend the playwriting rules. In 2007, his "Ravenhill for Breakfast" was a daily series of plays performed, script in hand, almost as quickly as he wrote them. This year, he conducted interviews with actor Bette Bourne, founder of Brit drag troupe Bloolips, turning the transcripts into three-hour-long performances that re-create those conversations virtually word for word. In practice, it's hardly more experimental than a celebrity chatshow, but the performance is made compelling by the charismatic Bourne and his fascinating story of gay activism and a life in the theater.
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MUSIC OMH REVIEW OF A Life in Three Acts

Bette Bourne and Mark Ravenhill: A Life in Three Acts
Shaun Newport

February 27, 2010: A Life in Three Acts couldn’t come at a more perfect time; it is LGBT History month and the 40th anniversary of the Gay Liberation Front. However, this is much more a coming-of-age story than it is one of coming-out.
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