Torn Tulle (Theater Rhinoceros) October 1982
In September and October of 1982, Doris Fish had a small role as a drag queen in Chuck Solomon’s production of Charles Henrich’s Torn Tulle at Studio Rhino, the auxiliary stage of the renowned queer Theater Rhinoceros. She starred alongside Alexis, R. Scott Lyons and J. Carlton Powers as “four drag queen hookers trapped in the backstage dressing room of a crumbling male porno house.” (BAR)
She was seemingly cast as much for her name as her talent.
“He later learned that the audition had been solely pro forma: “They thought it was a plus to have someone who had some kind of a vague following.” As it was—at one point or another everyone in the cast mentioned a friend or acquaintance who had said, “Oh, you’re in that play that Doris Fish is doing.”
Excerpt From
Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?
Craig Seligman
The play is described as being viscerally intense, with simulated rape and sex as the queens are abused by their pimp and a cop, mixed with low brow slapstick. The queens all got generally good reviews.
None of our archives have pictures from the show, but thankfully, archive.org carries scans of the Bay Area Reporter dating back to the mid 1970s.
