Terrence McNally’s story looks at dire straights on Fire Island during AIDS crisis

One look at the set of Lips Together, Teeth Apart tells you what Terrence McNally is going for in his anxious 1991 comedy about grief. The time is 1990, deep in the AIDS crisis. The place is a Fire Island beach house. We see a pool, a deck and two bedrooms flanking a kitchen. There’s no trace of a living room. That’s fitting. The four people gathered for the Fourth of July are quasi-zombies, avoiding living and each other. They’re worried about what they fear could be an HIV-infected swimming pool. There’s grist for a good story about paralyzing anxiety and the need to connect. Unfortunately, to tell his tale, McNally requires 2¾ hours, three acts, endless allusions to death (of bugs, snakes, brothers, swimmers) and inner monologues.