Last Summer at Bluefish Cove: A Play in Two Acts

by Jane Chambers

Last Summer at Bluefish Cove is the story of a dissatisfied straight woman who leaves her husband to spend some quiet time by herself, and who unwittingly and naively wanders into the midst of a group of seven lesbians at the beginning of their annual beachside vacation ... The friendships, the laughter, the love, the fears of being outed, the difficulties of being gay and how it affects relationships with family, children, parents and careers, the demonstrations of what the painful price could be for a gay life 30 years ago in everyday America, had never before been told with such respect. Chambers' comedic dialogue, sensitivity to human nature and tender treatment of her characters help the play transcend preconceptions and show the universality of these women's journeys.

Genres: Plays, LGBT, Theatre, Lesbian, Queer, Romance, Classics

107 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1982

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up.

This 1980 play certainly deserves its bona fides as the first major modern lesbian play eschewing stereotypes - since it is more or less a distaff version of The Boys in the Band, its male equivalent (... both center around a straight interloper at an all-gay party). I've read it several times now - when it was first published; again, after having seen the SF premiere in 1984, which starred Susan Sullivan of 'Falcon Crest' fame in the lead; and the previous time before this when I taught it in an LGBTQ+ theatre course at USF in 1999. I remembered it quite fondly, but now - I have a few .... issues.

First off, the exposition is often extremely clunky - characters are always telling other characters things they obviously know, but need to speak about to clue the audience in, e.g.: "You start the promotion tour for your new book next week and it would be disastrous if you developed laryngitis." Secondly, Chambers got her start writing TV soap operas - and it shows; scenes tend to veer towards the melodramatic and the ending is somewhat schmaltzy. The humor, while welcome, tends to veer towards sit-com schtick.

Still, the characters are all fully developed, and as I mentioned, none hew towards the stereotypical - there isn't a masculine 'bull-dyke' anywhere in site. If nothing else, Jean Smart apparently was discovered by the casting director of 'Designing Women' while playing the lead in several initial productions, so we have this play to thank for her stellar career! A planned Broadway premiere production, to be directed by Cynthia Nixon, was scheduled for 2020 - but fell victim to Covid. :-(. There IS, however, a loose 2014 Spanish language film adaptation, called 'Liz en Septiembre' that I haven't seen yet - but intend to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz872...

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's about life and death, but mostly just love

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play was mentioned in Harvey Fierstein's recent memoir I Was Better Last Night, (both this play and HF's Torch Song Trilogy were originally produced by the Glines Theater Group). The mention reminded me that I am friends with the surviving partner of Jane Chambers, and yet despite that and my interest in gay theater I have never read this. Jane Chambers was an important playwright in the history of gay theater. Her plays (especially Last Summer...) were among the very first to feature lesbians who were not victims or murderers or who did not have to die by the end of the play. Truly groundbreaking. Pre-Covid, a revival of this off-Broadway play was to have been staged making Jane's posthumous Broadway debut. My hope is that post-Covid plans for the revival will proceed. The play itself is delightful, a loving look at all the trouble caused when a straight woman rents a summer cottage in an enclave usually inhabited by lesbians. The women are portrayed warts and all, and while the play moves pretty much where you expect it to go, the dialogue sparkles and holds up well today (sad how much discrimination has not changed - look at all the anti-LGBTQ+ policies going on in Florida and Texas). Delightful play by a distinctive voice that sadly been forgotten by too many!

[Zoey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely and tragic, this play makes me laugh and want to fall in love. While some of the relationships feel rushed, I truly enjoyed the friendships and all of their complexities.

[Lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it a lot at first, but the revelation and the time jumps threw me off because it all felt a bit rushed. I didn't feel like there was enough build up to the final scene or enough development in the main relationship for me to feel moved by the ending.

3 stars for the lovable, unique cast of characters, and because this is an important, under-recognised piece of lesbian history.

[Santana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great beach read. I loved its soapiness and felt that the characters were more REAL than the contemporary soapy lesbian characters I’ve come across in novels tv movies etc over the past few years. Of its time which is a precious thing

[Cody Roecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn.

[Zachary Pareizs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular! A landmark play in lesbian history. Full of love and hope.

[Hazal Gunduz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely play on love, life, friendship, feminism, loss, and hope. It will not make you regret your time.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read and re-read this play this year. I just love it so much.

[Tati Arias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly one of the best and most heartbreaking plays I have ever read in my life. A must read for sapphic women, and a beautiful snapshot of queer culture in the seventies.

[ChristiAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this in an hour and now i am exceedingly depressed

[C Patt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to live at Bluefish Cove.

But also damn I knew it couldn't be an ending that wouldn't make me tear up a bit

[shelley :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

let's go lesbians!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A revisit. Love love love. Extremely witty, hilarious, full of heart, and a beautiful affirmation on life and relationships.

[Maria Sirigos · Rating 4 out of 5]

that last scene between lil and eva just burns

[Mayryott · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

girl take me back to 1980 for two hours to watch jean smart in this

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

a wonderful play

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bittersweet and lovely. Suffers from a slight case of insta-love, but this tale of lesbians in a Long Island summer town was right up my alley and it’s clear Chambers is a playwright who left us way too soon.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 —> 7/10

With the re-read I’m going up to 8/10 bc I’m excited

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give it more like 3.5 stars, actually.

There are still too few really good modern American lesbian plays--Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, though, is both one of the most enjoyable and one of the most groundbreaking. It feels a little dated at times (it's a sad commentary that one of our best lesbian plays is from 1980), but overall it holds up well as a piece of drama.

(It's also interesting as a kind of analogue to a lot of the AIDS plays about gay men that would start emerging a few years later.)

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew the author, I worked on the play. It was a wonderful play.

[Yooperprof · Rating 4 out of 5]

A period piece (set in the early 1980s) with considerable charm. The second act is better than the first.

[Reese · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Read 2021) It’s all in having something to live for.

[Madeleine Rose Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prepping for the role of Eva!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assistant to Costume designer on this one. Blue was the key word. A friend/discovery play.

[Victoria]

3.75/5 stars
I watched the movie Liz in September and I loved it so much that I decided to read the play that it was based on. While there are some differences between the movie and the play, I preferred the movie as it has more diversity and I felt it also gave the characters more depth. Usually I like the book/play better than the movie, but for me it wasn't the case with Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. However, I still loved reading the play!