What do you think?
Rate this book
Gemini: A Play In Two Acts
play
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2018
Odd little two day look into the enjoining backyards of 2 South Philly families. The son of the Geminiani family gets an unexpected visit from two young friends (a brother and sister) from Ivy League college and misunderstandings, sexual identity, OCD, overeating, screaming, attempted (comic) suicide, and a lot of stereotypes are on display. Why this is called GEMINI is a mystery, unless my mind is clouded by the antics. Twins? People of similar persuasions? The family name is Geminiani ... which contains the word gemini. Anyway, this is a VERY late 70s type of play. Not sure how it would hold up today with its attitudes.
October 24, 2022
Gemini tells the story of Francis Geminiani, a very smart, slightly overweight, utterly insecure young man, about to turn 21. His roots are in the tenements of South Philadelphia, where he lives with his exuberant father Fran and an extended family that consists of his father's short-tempered but genteel lady friend Lucille, his slutty neighbor Bunny, and Bunny's fat, backward, genius son Herschel. On the eve of his birthday, Francis gets some unexpected guests, Judith and Randy Hastings, rich WASPs from Harvard, where he goes to school on a scholarship. Their visit is entirely unwelcome, and not just because he is so ashamed and disgusted by his low-class relatives. No, the main problem is that Francis, who has been dating Judith, thinks he may be a homosexual. It's going to be a rough birthday.
The first third of Gemini feels like some weird mutant edition of The Rocky Horror Show, with Judith and Randy as Janet and Brad, fish entirely out of water in the wilds of South Philly. The culture shock is hilariously portrayed by Mr. Innaurato, as Judith and Randy try to process the--shall we say--unusually strong personalities of Francis's clan.
It's not long before Herschel is offering to show Randy his collection of subway transfers and Lucille is querying Judith about whether good teeth are required for admission to Yale. Judith and Randy take all this uninhibited eccentricity like good troopers, but you know they must feel like they've landed on Mars.
After they get their bearings, though, attention shifts to Francis's troubles, or at least what he thinks are troubles. Plenty of outsized and outlandish doings transpire before Francis's momentous 21st birthday is through, but underlying all of them is enormous compassion and love; in spite of their boorishness, their self-centeredness, their pigheaded stubbornness, every one of the people in this play genuinely cares for Francis, and somehow they all manage to see him through his crisis and happily and hopefully on his way toward greater self-understanding.
Funny, funny, funny.
The first third of Gemini feels like some weird mutant edition of The Rocky Horror Show, with Judith and Randy as Janet and Brad, fish entirely out of water in the wilds of South Philly. The culture shock is hilariously portrayed by Mr. Innaurato, as Judith and Randy try to process the--shall we say--unusually strong personalities of Francis's clan.
It's not long before Herschel is offering to show Randy his collection of subway transfers and Lucille is querying Judith about whether good teeth are required for admission to Yale. Judith and Randy take all this uninhibited eccentricity like good troopers, but you know they must feel like they've landed on Mars.
After they get their bearings, though, attention shifts to Francis's troubles, or at least what he thinks are troubles. Plenty of outsized and outlandish doings transpire before Francis's momentous 21st birthday is through, but underlying all of them is enormous compassion and love; in spite of their boorishness, their self-centeredness, their pigheaded stubbornness, every one of the people in this play genuinely cares for Francis, and somehow they all manage to see him through his crisis and happily and hopefully on his way toward greater self-understanding.
Funny, funny, funny.
June 6, 2013
Read with Portland Playreaders
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews