Why We Have a Body

"Most of the women in Claire Chafee's elegant comedy are searchers by trade. Archaeologists, paleontologists and private investigators, they spend their time ferreting out clues, digging up the past, checking out different possibilities. Risk and uncertainty are their daily bread. These gals are perpetually out on a limb. In each case, the women's chosen fields are a flight from traditional roles, propelled by a fear of getting stuck in a groove of routine. At the nucleus is a family of women at odds with the world around them. Private investigator Lili is a lesbian who stalks guys cheating on their wives and romances confused straight women, in this instance a paleontologist, Renee, headed toward divorce. Lili's sister Mary is mentally unhinged, sublimating all of her Joan of Arc and Ophelia fantasies by holding up 7-Elevens and directing traffic. Their mother, Eleanor, has traded in her maternal hat for the rugged life of an archaeologist-historian specializing in the female brain." (N. Y Newsday) "... writing that sparkles... Its four female characters would all seem to be desperately searching, not so much for their bodies, as for something much more ethereal, like meaning and identity. It is in this search that the playwright exploits the comedy of their respective dilemmas." (Drama-Logue)