Interview: Maegan Azar of INTIMATE APPAREL at Centre Stage

In 1905 New York City, Esther, a black seamstress, lives in a boarding house for women and sews exquisite lingerie for wealthy white patrons as well as black prostitutes. But success and a nest egg can't fully protect her from the one thing that can unravel even the strongest stitch: Love.

Lynn Nottage's award-winning Intimate Apparel opens June 15, 2017, at Centre Stage in Greenville, SC. We asked one of the show's stars, Maegan Azar, to tell us a little about herself and the play.

BWW: First, tell me a little about your background and the role you're playing.

MA: Let's see...grew up in Florida, started acting when I was 9...too far back? Ha! I came to Greenville 7 years ago from California where I was the Education Director for a theatre for youth. The first time Greenville audiences saw me on stage was at Centre Stage in Identity Crisis, it was the New Play Festival winner that year. Since then, I've been on stage at Centre Stage (most recently as Cindy in Luna Gale) and Warehouse (last show there was as Harper in Angels in America Parts 1 & 2), as well as Directing at both theatres (most recent at Centre Stage was Sisters of Swing, and I'm co-directing Othello this summer at Warehouse) and at Furman University Theatre, of course (most recently co-directed Romeo & Juliet). I'm the Associate Professor of Acting & Directing at Furman, which is what brought me to Greenville in the first place!

The role I'm playing is Mrs. Evangeline Van Buren, an upperclass Southern transplant to New York City whose relationship with her husband is tumbling downhill because they haven't been able to have any children, and so she has hired Esther to make her some daring new undergarments to help spice up her love life, but also to hopefully give her a new confidence in her own body.

BWW: How much did you know going in about that time period? Did you do any research? Is that part of your process or do you just go by what's in the script alone?

MA: I'm somewhat fortunate because my husband just did a show (In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play at Warehouse last December) set in the same time period! Crazy how things like that work out! So, we've kind of been working in this world all year. But, yes, research is definitely part of my process, so I have done quite a bit. One of my favorite things that I did was read several of the Society Pages from 1905 - that's where all the gossip landed about the fancy people of the day (and Mrs. Van Buren talks about how splendid things have been written about her in the columns this season). So that was a fun thing to hunt down and see what was going on with people my character would have been rubbing elbows with!

BWW: How has your approach to acting developed since you've become a professor?

MA: This is such a good question. I always tell my students that I learn from them, and it is true. I think that as I've continued teaching, I've developed a deeper understanding of Stella Adler's ideas behind investing oneself in the given circumstances of a play. The play's text is so rich with details, and you really have to mine it, investigate it like a detective, to find everything out about your character that you can. As I continue to teach, I can see how that really resonates with my students' precision as actors, and so that has been fun for me to see in my own work, as well.

BWW: Have you experienced any surprises or personally meaningful discoveries during the rehearsal process?

MA: Sure, and maybe this is something way more personal than anyone wants to read, but I've recently had a baby. I was actually in my last show at Centre Stage while I was 7 months pregnant, so being in this show is kind of a neat bookend. It is a truly powerful experience as a woman to have a child, but there are a lot of gritty things that people don't talk about. And some of those things left me wondering what it would be like when I got back on stage again, whether I would be comfortable in my own skin up there. And...I've discovered that I am. It's been nice exploring this character in particular because Evangeline is a little uncomfortable with her own body, too, at the beginning of the show. So, it has been really lovely finding that confidence again. And seeing how my perspective has slightly changed now that I've reached a huge milestone in my own life.

BWW: What makes this a production worth seeing?

MA: This story is not Mrs. Van Buren's story. It is Esther's. But it is a story about women, and about how sometimes women give little bits of themselves to others, out of love, out of habit, out of desire. And it is about how one woman finds her way back to herself after all of that. It is powerful and heart-wrenching to watch Esther weave her way through the web.

Another reason this show is special for me is that I'm on stage with a Furman alum! Regina Wells plays Mayme and she graduated from Furman in 2016. I didn't even know she was in the show until the first rehearsal, so when she walked in, it was so exciting! She's killing it in this show, too, which makes all of us at Furman all the more proud!

Intimate Apparel runs June 15 - July 1 at Centre Stage in downtown Greenville, SC. For tickets and showtimes, call the box office at 864-233-6733 or visit centrestage.org.