BWW Reviews: INTIMATE APPAREL Worn Close to the Heart

Intimate Apparel

Written by Lynn Nottage, Directed by Summer L. Williams; Scenic Design, Anne Sherer; Costume Design, Amanda Mujica; Lighting Design, Chris Hudacs; Sound Design, Kelsey Jarboe; Composer/Music Director, Allyssa Jones; Assistant Director, Stephanie LeBolt; Dialect Coach, Bryn Austin; Production Stage Manager, Nerys Powell; Assistant Stage Manager, Danielle Pancoast

CAST: Lindsey McWhorter, Cheryl D. Singleton, Nael Nacer, Kris Sidberry, Amanda Ruggiero, Brandon G. Green

Performances through March 14 at The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 617-585-5678 or www.lyricstage.com

Intimate Apparel is one woman's story of courage and resilience set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America in early 20th century New York City. In this 2004 winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage (Ruined) does what she does best, focusing on an African American woman who struggles for fair and equal treatment while trying to make her dream a reality. Under the direction of Summer L. Williams, who also directed Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at the Lyric Stage Company, Intimate Apparel offers a realistic depiction of the human drama inherent in the journeys of half a dozen individuals who have more in common than it first appears.

Across lines of color, gender, and economic station, each of the characters in Intimate Apparel is on a quest to find their place and a modicum of dignity and happiness. Esther (Lindsey McWhorter) is a 35-year old seamstress who has been working since the age of nine, squirreling away money (sewn into a quilt) with the hope of one day opening her own beauty parlor "for colored ladies," where they will be pampered and treated nicely. She has never had a man, but doesn't need one to support her and accepts that her plainness makes the prospect unlikely. Until one day she receives a letter from a laborer from Panama requesting permission to court her long-distance through the mail, and her world begins to spin a little bit faster.

George Armstrong (Brandon G. Green) is a Barbados native working on the building of the Panama Canal. After a mutual acquaintance tells him about her, he writes descriptive, articulate letters to Esther, portraying himself as a gentleman and hard worker who only wants someone to correspond with to allay his loneliness. Seeing this as possibly her last chance to find happiness, Esther enters into the correspondence with the excitement of a schoolgirl, while denying that she has any expectations. Unable to read or write, she must enlist the assistance of her elegant white uptown client to pen the letters for her. Barren and in a loveless marriage, Mrs. Van Buren (Amanda Ruggiero) is more than happy to get some vicarious pleasure from Esther's budding romance.

Even as her connection with George is expanding, Esther has strong, warm feelings for Mr. Marks (Nael Nacer), her fabric salesman. A Romanian Jewish immigrant, Marks is a kind, gentle soul who shares Esther's love for the materials he sells and, although it is verboten, harbors feelings for her, as well. The scenes between the two of them, in the cozy space up a flight of stairs from the main stage, are fraught with a current of tenderness and longing. They sublimate their desire with loving caresses of the bolts of fabric that Marks proudly presents for Esther's appreciation, and silently suffer their obeisance to social and religious mores.

At opposite ends of the spectrum are Esther's respectable but nosy landlady at the boarding house, Mrs. Dickson (Cheryl D. Singleton), and her friend Mayme (Kris Sidberry), a good-hearted prostitute (is there any other kind?) who labors in the Tenderloin and dabbles at the piano. Both women have Esther's best interests at heart and speak their truths to her, although neither of them has ended up where they imagined they'd be in life. Mrs. Dickson cautions Esther about her infatuation with George, while Mayme encourages her to trust her instincts and go for the gusto. Act one concludes with the couple standing stiffly side by side in their wedding finery and the flash of a camera bulb recording their momentous occasion.

Intimate Apparel becomes more overtly dramatic in the second act as the relationship between Esther and George unfolds and she is faced with difficult choices. However, each of the disappointments and setbacks she encounters seems to strengthen her and she remains remarkably true to her own character. McWhorter's performance is both understated and powerful, and she represents the dignity that Esther never loses throughout her trials. She holds her own with each of the other characters while she relates with them on different levels.

Williams crafts the play with heart and draws performances which are strong and true across the board. Singleton is imperious, yet caring, and self-assured, yet vulnerable. Ruggiero is vain and self-involved, but masking a lot of hurt and insecurity. Sidberry has the toughest exterior, but she is also covering over a lot of wounds and lost dreams. Green gives a fully realized portrayal of George's duplicity, allowing us to like him and loathe him. Nacer adds another to his long résumé of nuanced, sympathetic characters.

As one might expect in a play about a seamstress, Amanda Mujica's costume designs play a vital role. Nottage titles her scenes with the name of a garment or piece of fabric, and each item - corset, smoking jacket, lace, silk - is involved in the telling of the story. Anne Sherer's set serves as the boudoirs of Esther, Mrs. Van Buren, and Mayme, differentiated by the bed coverings, curtains, and screens. The small spaces above and to the sides of the stage house George's camp in Panama and Marks' little shop, effectively lit by Chris Hudacs. Kelsey Jarboe brings in ambient sounds of a party and a streetcar, and Composer/Music Director Allyssa Jones weaves ragtime music through the play, evoking the feeling of the period.

Photo credit: Glenn Perry (Lindsey McWhorter)