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The Philadelphia Theatre Company has built its reputation by going against the tide, producing plays other theater companies would be reluctant to tackle. However, its current production, Lynn Nottage’s "Intimate Apparel," is one of the most popular at regional playhouses across the country.
Right away, we sense why this heartfelt tribute to the writer’s great-grandmother has been so popular. It is the tale of a lonely, 35-year-old African-American seamstress who makes delicate garments – and undergarments – for uptown ladies of means and downtown ladies of the evening.
The biographical work is inspiring, involving and sentimental. Through her exploration of one woman’s struggles and attempts to find romance, Nottage has hit upon a universal story of yearning. The production has a worthy cast, who mine the feelings of spinster Esther Mills and those around her.
The play opens in 1905 New York City with Esther sewing feverishly. Skilled in creating exquisite corsets for brides, Esther lives and works in a boarding house. Although independent and feisty to a degree, she shudders when considering the unmarried existence that lies before her.
Esther’s tightly knit support system includes Mrs. Van Buren, a childless, socialite trophy wife; Mayme, a bright and artistic prostitute, who reconciles the dimensions of her life ("Sometimes I gotta do other things, but I’m singing every night, ain’t I?"); Mr. Marks, a Jewish factory owner, who is Esther’s friend and business associate; and Mrs. Dickson, Esther’s landlady. But these people can only do so much for our heroine.
Shortly, a letter arrives from George Armstrong, a Barbados native working on the Panama Canal construction. All grit, grime and grin, George describes watching "one man drop for every 20 feet of canal dug" and of coming to New York to meet Esther. Intrigued, yet illiterate, Esther seeks the help of Mayme and Mrs. Van Buren – each battling their own demons of uncertainty and loneliness – to become surrogate correspondents. A relationship between George and Esther blossoms across the hemisphere.
Though George sees death all around him, he is a romantic. From a distance, he marvels at the delicacy of Esther’s work even before he sees it: the "tiny stitches drawing together the pieces of satin." Before long, the two meet and Esther is stitching her own wedding corset.
There have been countless long-distance initiated relationships. Some result in happy marriages, many don’t. Even if I went into chapter and verse about how things turn out for Esther and George, it wouldn’t spoil anything. The plot holds few unexpected twists, but the rewards have less to do with surprises than seeing the six sterling actors transform Nottage’s characters into flesh and blood.
Rosalyn Coleman is a revelation as Esther, balancing a heartbreaking yearning with a sense of self-esteem. Her performance is remarkably multilayered, as she gives Esther visceral strength while infusing her with sadness and vulnerability. Her interior beauty radiates, allowing Esther to defy the standard norms of physical attractiveness.
The other characters serve Esther and her journey toward romance, so they are not written with great depth. Stephen Conrad Moore brings an endearing robustness to George, even as his less savory qualities emerge.
Eisa Davis is lush and potent as Mayme, who has seen wonderful ideas "conjured" in her room. Anne Louise Zachry as Mrs. Van Buren, Maury Ginsberg as Mr. Marks and Stephanie Berry as Mrs. Dickson bring sensitivity and presence to characters that have had their own dreams deferred or diluted.
In a play where clothing helps define the characters, all the women are physically constrained by the corsets they wear, symbolizing the restrictions society places on them. Janus Stefanowicz’s costumes, particularly the intricate corsets, wraps "Intimate Apparel" in a garb of history – a look back at lives reaching out to embrace the potential of a new world.
A large part of the play’s appeal is the way Nottage works out the theme, as well as her sharp ear for poetically charged dialogue within the idioms of the period, giving each character a distinctive voice. The duets complement each other, building into a kind of ragtime symphonic whole, just as the touching story of Esther comments upon and helps illuminate the world in which we live.
Intimate Apparel
Through April 16
Plays & Players Theater
1714 Delancey St.
Tickets: $31-$49
215-985-0402
www.phillytheatreco.com
