BWW Reviews: INTIMATE APPAREL in Westport

The 10th anniversary revival of Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's play, Intimate Apparel, is closing the Westport Country Theatre's regular season on, well, a very strong thread.

This is the second time this critic has seen the play, and it remains evocative and rich. Nottage has said that all her characters are people who are marginalized by society. In this play Esther Mills (played by Nikki E. Walker) built a life for herself after the early death of her parents and became a seamstress. She falls in love with George Armstrong (Isaiah Johnson), a worker from Panama with whom she has corresponded by letter. Her emotional support system is made up of her rich client Mrs. Van Buren (Leighton Bryan), boarding house proprietress Mrs. Dickson (Aleta Mitchell), fabric supplier Mr. Marks (Tommy Schrider), and friend Mayme (Heather Alicia Simms). Nottage's play is a tapestry that weaves all the characters' similar hopes and dreams of love and financial survival and heartbreaking disappointment. Now you know the ending is sad. So why see it? Because it is so powerful and because you will feel connected to these characters. The play is set in New York City in 1905, but the aspirations and modest expectations they have are so contemporary. Their belief in love, hard work, salting away some money for the future. We're there with those characters, cheering for them and ready to comfort them.

The casting was flawless. Walker was strong and dignified as a woman who will not let tragedy define her. Mitchell played her landlady with warmth and wisdom. Bryan balanced sweetness and sadness as a rich lady who is trapped in a loveless marriage. Johnson was chillingly seductive as George. Simms brought humor to the hardened prostitute who was also Esther's best friend. Schrider was appealing as the Orthodox Jewish immigrant textile merchant who was waiting indefinitely for his bride to come. There could have been a stronger chemistry between the characters of Esther and Marks, but maybe that can happen in a sequel to this play. (Any plans for that, Ms. Nottage?)

Mary B. Robinson's direction was spot on, as was Allen Moyer's scenic design. The vignettes of the characters' personal spaces were designed not just for definition and separation, but for enhancement of the story. Turning the direction of Esther's bed was a wonderful bit of symbolism of how her life changed once she married George. Even when vignettes were retracted in some scenes, you either felt the presence of the characters who lived in them or you worried about them. Fitz Patton's original music and sound design were perfect.

While Intimate Apparel is a play that should be staged in many cities and towns, it has a lot of significance for Connecticut. Esther's skills were critical for many black women in the early 20th century, and Connecticut has a lot of garment history, excluding hat making in Danbury. One of the wonderful things about the Westport Country Playhouse is the supplementary displays in the extended lobby. When you see Intimate Apparel, look for the wedding dressed designed by dressmaker and musician Sarah Taylor, the daughter of two slaves who escaped plantations in the South. Also, the Norwalk Historic Society lent some accessories. There will also be lectures and discussions about the play in context. Like opera? Great! Nottage, along with composer Ricky Ian Gordon, is adapting Intimate Apparel into an opera that's being commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Don't wait. For tickets and more information, contact the Westport Country Playhouse a 203-227-4177 or visit www.westportplayhouse.org. Intimate Apparel runs through November 1.

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