silver linings in moonlit clouds

This looks to be quite the idyllic setting, doesn't it?
It's the ocean-facing porch of a beach house on Fire Island, on the 4th of July.
But there is no joy there for the two couples who populate it...
the two heterosexual, white-bread couples, steeped in adultery and AIDS-phobia.
"Lips Together, Teeth Apart" pulls no punches.
Set sometime in the 1980's, the play is wrapped around themes of death and isolation, mistrust and homophobia, fear and love.
Sally inherited the house when her brother died. She and her husband, Sam, have gone there, for the first time, to determine what to do with the property. Another couple have joined them there: Chloe, Sam's sister, a woman who wards off fear by never, ever shutting up about banalities; John, Chloe's husband and Sally's 'secret' lover, a sourpuss full of cancer.
All of them are terrified of the swimming pool, terrified of any involvement with the neighbors, terrified of honesty with each other or any others.
The play brought back memories of Bill Gebhardt, a fellow Masquer, who died of AIDS in the mid-1990's. I remember visiting him in the hospital and holding his hand.
Of the many who had revered his acting and thought him a friend, few came to see him, so fearful they were of breathing the air and catching the disease.
That kind of ignorance, so easily remedied through knowledge, is so sad.
Here's the thing, though - it persists, still, all these years later.
So very sad.

Fortunately, I was not alone at this performance by the Bangers and Mash troupe.
Barbara and Sandy were there with me, las tres amigas having a rare night together.
They quietly listened to me mourn and rant, allowing the night air to blow my troubles out to sea.
By the time I was done, we were at Fannie's On The Beach, a favorite of mine.
Barbara, of all people, opted to mount the stairs to the deck - nice!
There, we watched the moon rise, peeking between scattered clouds.
And we ate shrimp and chatted with the waitress and sang along with the muic...
and all became right with the world, again.
i thank You, God.