Theater J: Intimate Apparel

 My second Lynn Nottage play of the season...or, honestly any season at all.  I squeezed this one in after seeing "Mlima's Tale" at 1st Stage.  And I am ever so glad that I did.  It was excellently written, she has a gift for dialogue and characterization.  Played with a cast of six interesting characters that find themselves all looking for meaning in their turn of the 20th century lives.  Each member of the cast an immigrant to the multi-cultural salad bowl that was New York City in 1906.  In the hands of this skilled and compelling group of actors, I quickly developed a genuine empathy for each.  I watched with anticipation, eager to see where each would go next.

In the end, the message seemed to play second fiddle to the character development.  In the end, I was reminded of a line for Stephen Sondheim's "Into The Woods": Sometimes the thing you want the most in life is the thing that's not to be had.

I loved the actors to a person; yet, I will elevate three.  The central character in the story is a black woman named Esther. Esther is 35 and a budding spinster, who suddenly finds love in the most unexpected and improbably places.  Renee Elizabeth Wilson played her with a tender compassion.  She was moving in the down times and delightful in the moments of spontaneous joy.  No matter where her character was in the arc of her emotional life, Wilson gave us authenticity without over-playing it.  

Awa Sal Secka played one of Esther's customers, a prostitute named Mayme.  I've seen Awa in many things, all musicals.  I know she can sing.  Now, I know she can act.  She infused the character with a set of mannerisms and a vocal pattern that was consistent, effective and endearing.  Even when her character totally fucks up, you can't but feel compassion for her.  A bonus, in one scene Mayme and Esther sing a little duet.

The third was Esther's other customer (did I mention that Esther makes women's undergarments?) Mrs. Van Buren, a aristocratic white woman trapped in a childless and therefore loveless marriage.  Another outstanding character actor performance.  A former southern belle trophy wife past her prime and so lonely she turns her affections toward Esther.  Susan Lanskey played the role in turns of flare and pathos with an effortless magic that was impossible to turn away from.  I would love to see her take on Blanche duBois!

The set by Paige Hathaway centered on a lovely queen-sized brass bed that floated around the cardinal points to represent a variety of rooms.  Walls that looked like tenement buildings defined the depths of the set and floor to ceiling diaphanous drapes move in concert with the bed to place a punctuation on the different locations.  Very effective and beautiful, too.  It was good to be back at Theater J.

Esther (Renee Elizabeth Wilson) and Mr. Marks (Yoni Bronstein) the immigrant fabric merchant with whom she has an unrequited forbidden infatuation.

George Armstrong (Manu Kumasi) the young Barbadan immigrant who woos Esther from afar and then uses her for his own purposes.

Esther with one of her clients, Mayme (Awa Sal Secka) a prostitute

Mayme, Esther and Mrs. Van Buren (Susan Lynskey) another client of Esther's intimate apparel business.

Esther and George on their wedding night

Mr. Marks and Esther in his fabric shop