Alice Neel and Cecilia Beaux: Double Portrait

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s Thresholds of Invention series of first looks at pieces in process by prominent L.A. visionaries presents a reading of Alice Neel and Cecilia Beaux: Double Portrait, a work in progress by Los Angeles-based playwright Doris Baizley. Beth Ruscio and Shannon Holt star as the two iconic painters, both from Philadelphia, yet aesthetically and experientially worlds apart. Beaux, born in the mid 19th Century, abided by the restrictions of her time while Neel, born at the turn of the 20th, was able to break through any imposed limitations. Had the male-dominated societies each was subjected to changed that drastically in so short a time? Yet both artists, each wholly committed to her art, ultimately triumphed despite adversity.