Why We Have A Body at Edgemar Center for the Arts

Lili's a private eye. Her specialty is divorce cases, investigating adulterous husbands. But Lili herself is having an affair with a married woman, Renee, who is (or was, up until this point) a heterosexual. Lili has a sister, Mary, a career criminal who compulsively robs convenience stores at gunpoint. But Mary is trying to make an effort at having a non-criminal life. For this, she will have Lili's assistance. More than anything, Lili and Mary want to be family. But their mother, Eleanor, is forever exploring cultures in some other country or on some other continent, while Mary and Lili long for their Mom. Claire Chafee's elegant, richly humorous comedy is all about love: romantic love, family love, sibling love, lesbian love, sexual love (see the title), and the sometimes strange but wonderful things that we do to satisfy our deepest desires and longings. Funny, sexy and occasionally poignant, "Why We Have A Body" will make you, like Lily and Renee, want to keep coming back for more. Why We Have A Body is Claire Chafee's best-known play. It premiered in San Francisco in 1993, when it enjoyed a very long run, and was successfully revived there last year. It also played off-Broadway. Ms. Chafee's other plays include "5 Women on a Hill in Spain," "Darwin's Finches," and "Even Among These Rocks."