Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Dated Courtship
Although it opened on Broadway in 1987, Terence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune was originally written in 1982. The title and the date when it was written speak volumes. Surprisingly, it is incredibly dated, and although the author struggles to give it an optimistic ending, there has been too much mainstreaming of 12-step concepts in the intervening 30 plus years as well as knowledge about the characteristics of narcissism for me to overlook the potentially destructive aspects inherent in the budding relationship of a middle aged waitress and a middle-aged cook depicted in two-person play.
