The three drowning girls are young women in their 20s and 30s, desperate to marry and avoid spinsterhood. The time is the early 20th century, and Bessie Mundy, Alice Burnham and Margaret Lofty are all drowned in their baths by their husband, a serial killer named George Joseph Smith. He uses several names, presents himself as independently wealthy, and marries and murders eight women.
The Drowning Girls by Three Crows Theatre is directed by Daniel King, who has created a quirky, balletic way to tell the story of the three women and their love for the Edwardian evildoer, who seduces and marries them, takes control of their finances, and immediately murders them. Their story is a true-crime theatrical experience based on the crimes that took place in England from 1912 to 1914.
The Drowning Girls perform in and around an old-fashioned, claw-footed bathtub, with veils and curtains and parts of a wedding dress as props to illustrate their demise. Selena Lopez plays Bessie, Lindsey Zanatta is Alice, and Diane Sintich is Margaret. They each play many different roles, many of them male, by donning a top hat or making simple voice changes, occasionally adding an accent, as when they play three Irish maids. They tell their emotional story with great skill and empathy for each other. They dance or practice their swim strokes, and sit on the bathtub, where they read about themselves in newspapers and serve each other tea. With action described by the playwrights and choreographed by the director, a story that could have been simply a play reading becomes a fanciful exercise in theater, song and dance. (“Nearer My God to Thee,” the 19th century Christian hymn, is a recurring melody.)
The script for The Drowning Girls was written by three Canadian theater performers—Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson and Daniela Vlaskalic. Graham and Vlaskalic were the brides in the first staging, performed at the 1999 Edmonton Fringe, with Tomlinson directing. It was later expanded and published. Chicagoans first saw this play in 2015, performed by the late Signal Ensemble Theatre, with three bathtubs and plenty of water.
Spencer Donovan’s scenic design foregoes the water and develops the visual story with one bathtub and a ladder. Lighting design is by Alexa Wiljanen and sound design by Samuel Fitzwater-Butchart. Dagny Mullins designed the costumes. Kit Ratliff is stage manager.
The Drowning Girls by Three Crows Theatre continues at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., through March 30. Running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are pay-what-you-want for performances Thursday-Sunday.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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