The first play in New York written by Tina Howe, which was entitled The Nest, “must be on any reasonable short list of the worst plays I have ever seen,” New York Times critic Clive Barnes wrote in his review in 1970. Fifty-four years later, The Tent Theater Company is presenting what it bills as the world premiere production of the final play by Tina Howe, “Where Women Go.” I wouldn’t put it on a list of worst plays ever, but Howe, who died last August at the age of 85, certainly wrote more rewarding plays in-between her first and her last, including “Painting Churches” and “Pride’s Crossing,” both of which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and “Coastal Disturbances,” the only play of hers that made it to Broadway, where it was nominated for three Tony Awards, including best play.

But if “Where Women Go” is an unevenly-acted trio of short, slight one-acts, its absurdist take on life for older women shares the sensibility and the concerns of some of Howe’s better plays.

“Old women have great power. Magic is afoot with them,” Howe once wrote about “Pride’s Crossing,” her play about a 90-year-old swimmer who looks back on her life. Howe’s observation is quoted in a note in the program written by the artistic director of Tent, a new theater company whose mission is to nurture “Elder American playwrights.” The note goes on to explain how the company came to produce “Where Women Go.” They had invited Howe to become part of their company, but she told them “she was probably done writing.”  However, she had written this one play, and, although she was pleased with what she called “its happy weirdness, in tribute, she told me, to her favorite playwright, Ionesco,” she doubted it would be produced.  

Tent took it as their mission to erase those doubts, first  in a reading four months before she died, and now in this posthumous production at HERE.

In the first of the three short plays, “To The Dermatologist,” Broadway veteran Brenda Currin leads the nine-member cast, portraying Zill Gould, a woman in her 80s who seeks medical attention for an unusual – indeed, unique — condition: Spices are growing on her legs, especially parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (and yes they the characters eventually sing the Simon and Garfunkle song.)

In “To Subway,” Currin as a different character, Hannah, brings her reluctant friend Clara to eat at a Subway sandwich shop, and Clara orders from the two Ivy-educated Subway staffers a surreal meal with ingredients that no Subway (indeed no restaurants) has ever stocked.

In “Shopping,” Peter Ganin (another Broadway veteran) portrays Ed, Egyptian-American proprietor of an outdoor shopping stand in front of a popular grocery store on the Upper West Side during the pandemic lock-down, as one shopper after another, including a silent man attached to a parachute, try out or try on his wares in ways peculiar enough to try his patience. Ed starts singing the Star Bangled Banner, joined by a professional soprano, who switches to Glory, Hallelujah, eventually joined by the entire cast.

Although the entire evening is only 75 minutes long, each of these plays feels stretched out, with the full cast doing a variety of shtick that some members of the audience clearly found amusing. The play to which I most responded was the first, because it seemed such a precise metaphor for living to old age. At one point, for example, we hear the voice of Zill’s husband Morris, but never see him (Howe’s husband died a year before she did.) The more obvious example: Yes, getting older can mean new aches and peculiar pains, but one can also find new spice late in life — which I hope and expect Tent to demonstrate in future productions.

Where Women Go
Tent at HERE through February 25
Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission
Tickets: $28.25 – $55.25 
Directed by Aimée Hayes
Taylor Friel (sets), Joey Moro (lights) Lola Basiliere (sound), and Heather Freedman (costumes). Music Direction by Simone Allen. The dramaturg is Garrett Anderson.
 Cast: Almeria Campbell, Brenda Currin, Jessica DiGiovanni, Peter Ganim, Breezy Leigh, Matthew Maguire, Tirol Palmer, Yessenia Rivas, and Yeena Sung
Photos by Matthew Cylinder