With an all-female cast, featuring Suzie Bright as John Lennon, Cecilia Dougherty's Grapefruit plays with the romanticized history of the iconic Fab Four, gently mocking John and Yoko’s banal squabbles and obsessive rituals of self-display. Based obliquely on Yoko Ono’s book, the piece works on many levels to reposition this mythic tale of the Beatles by casting '80s women in mod drag—effectively mapping the lesbian sub-culture onto heterosexual mass culture. Discounting the importance of reproducing facts and historical accuracy, Dougherty gives an incisive reading of the creation of pop culture icons: it doesn’t matter who plays John Lennon because ultimately John Lennon is not a person anymore. As a star, he is a projection of our society’s collective needs and desires.

ife is so tough in the big city that our hero has to run a gauntlet of assailants just walking to work. Once there, blasé urban hipsters drop philosophical bombshells like cigarette ashes on a carpet. A leather-jacketed artiste of some sort or another, his figure endures the perils of fame, from glib arse-kissers to critics who throw literal punches instead of derogatory adjectives. Its absurdity peaking in a ballet of slo-mo slapstick, this very funny, distinctively Hal Hartley short weighs the value of ambition. Its verdict? Meh. - Dennis Harvey