Review: LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE at JCC Centerstage Theatre

The power of memory is a fascinating thing. We all have that one song that transports us back to our wedding day, or that TV commercial that immediately makes us think of our Dad, or a smell that evokes the comfort of Christmas morning. Nora and Delia Ephron’s play “Love, Loss and What I Wore” explores how that same emotional attachment exists with our clothes, and how—often unintentionally—we chronicle the many chapters of our lives, both the ups and the downs, through the clothes we wear.

 “Love, Loss and What I Wore” is a play written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman; it follows fragmented stories about the nostalgic power of women’s clothing. A starry cast of seven women (Jodi Beckwith, Connie Neer, Cynthia Brito, Katherine Mary Chalone, Adryanna Elmendorf, Stephanie Roosa, Tracey Atkins Ulterino) tell funny, wistful and universal memories about their families and loved ones through the prism of their closets. Like a long heart-to-heart with your best friend over coffee, the conversation meanders from a bittersweet story of a stepmother wearing the same style bathrobe as her husband’s late wife to a couple’s musings of what they wore on their wedding day to a rant about loathing the need to carry a purse (an extended interactive monologue by Roosa that serves as one of the most entertaining bits of the show).

Throughout its 1-hour 40-minute runtime, “Love, Loss and What I Wore” covers a lot of emotional and thematic terrain: female body image, societal beauty standards, mother/daughter relationship dynamics, trauma, loss, and generational differences. In true Nora Ephron form, the play explores these themes with equal parts humor (especially from Roosa and Chalone) and intensity, emphasizing that just like our clothes, our memories and life experiences are a jubilee of good and bad. The cast of seven women—some unfamiliar to me, others regulars of the Rochester theatre scene—are at times hilarious, gut-wrenching, and sentimental.

“Love, Loss and What I Wore” is funny and bittersweet, showing the powerful connection between the clothes we wear and our memories, our relationships, and our own self-image. It’s playing at JCC’s Centerstage Theatre until December 10th, for tickets and more information click here.

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