Valerie Harper stars in “Looped” at the Lincoln Theatre

Written by DCist contributor Monica Shores

There are two stars in Arena Stage’s new production, Looped. Audiences might be drawn to the show for the familiar name above the marquee, TV actress Valerie Harper. But the play’s real star is her character, film actress Tallulah Bankhead, a woman notorious for unapologetic appetites and ego. Both women are captivating, and it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Looped is based on a legendary recording session in which eight hours were spent dubbing a single movie line. By 1965, the year in which the play is set, Bankhead’s professional reputation was dismal and her health worse. She arrives drunk at the sound stage and proceeds to get drunker, downing pills and snorting cocaine while her temporarily assigned wrangler, a film editor who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, tries to coax her to work.