Intimate Apparel (play)

Intimate Apparel
Written by Lynn Nottage
Characters Esther
Mrs. Dixon
Mrs. Van Buren
Mr. Marks
Mayme
George
Date premiered February 21, 2003 (2003-02-21)
Place premiered Center Stage, Baltimore
Original language English
Setting Lower Manhattan

Intimate Apparel is a play written by Lynn Nottage. The play is a co-production and co-commission between Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland, and South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California. The play is set in New York City in 1905 and concerns a young African-American woman who travels to New York to pursue her dreams, becoming an independent woman as a seamstress.

Production history

The play had its world premiere at Center Stage (Baltimore, Maryland) running from February 21, 2003 to March 30.[1] Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the cast featured Shane Williams (Esther), Brenda Pressley (Mrs. Dickson), Kevin Jackson (George Armstrong) and Sue Cremin (Mrs. VanBuren). It next ran at the South Coast Repertory from April 11, 2003 through May 18, 2003 directed by Whoriskey and with the same Center Stage cast.[2]

The play opened Off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre, running from March 17, 2004 to June 6, 2004. Directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, it featured Viola Davis (Esther), Lynda Gravatt (Mrs. Dickson), and Corey Stoll (Mr. Marks).[3]

It has been produced at regional theaters, including the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles from July to September 2004,[3] the Southern Repertory Theatre in New Orleans, Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago (January 2005),[4] City Theatre in Pittsburgh (May 2007),[5][6] and Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon in September/October 2014.[7]

Plot

In 1905, Esther Mills is a skilled African-American seamstress. She has her own successful business, making lingerie for both society ladies, Mrs. Van Buren in particular, and "ladies of the night." Esther has a failed romantic relationship with George Armstrong, who is working on the Panama Canal. She has an unlikely friendship with Mr. Marks, an Orthodox Jew.

The play is based on the life of Nottage's great-grandmother.[8]

Critical response

The CurtainUp reviewer of the 2004 production at the Mark Taper Forum wrote: "...the lyric and powerful expressive writing of playwright Lynn Nottage. She's an actor's gift with sly one-syllable humorous punch words; poetic paintings of physical and emotional landscapes; dramatic conflict that pulls no punches and is not afraid to make sympathetic characters unsympathetic; and an intimate knowledge of loneliness and passion."[3]

The reviewer for The New York Times of a 2010 production at the Two River Theatre Company (Red Bank, New Jersey), wrote: "If you’ve seen Ms. Nottage’s 'Ruined,' about Congolese women in wartime,... no introduction is necessary. If you haven’t, you need only look at Ms. Nottage’s accumulation of other awards... to know that hers is a rare, vital, important theatrical voice. 'Intimate Apparel,' which had its Off Broadway run in 2004, is her best-known work... The Two River production, expertly directed by Seret Scott, shows off its multiple facets: a rich, vivid portrait of turn-of-the-last-century New York; a feminist lament of intelligent, talented women defined and controlled by men; a soft-focus glimpse into the beating hearts behind the archives of African-American life a century ago."[9]

Awards and nominations

The play won the 2004 Steinberg New Play Award, presented by The American Theatre Critics Association to "outstanding new plays produced around the United States, outside of New York City".[10]

Drama Desk Awards (2004)[11]
Outer Critics Circle Awards (2004)
Lucille Lortel Awards (2005)
Obie Award (2003–04)

References

  1. ↑ Simonson, Robert. "Baltimore's Center Stage Presents New Lynn Nottage Play, 'Intimate Apparel', Feb. 26" playbill.com, February 8, 2003
  2. ↑ Intimate Apparel scr.org, accessed January 27, 2016
  3. 1 2 3 Hitchcock, Laura. "Review. 'Intmate Apparel'",Curtain Up, August 4, 2004
  4. ↑ "'Intimate Apparel' Listing" steppenwolf.org, accessed January 27, 2016
  5. ↑ Jones, Chris. "Lynn Nottage adds 'Intimate Apparel' to her list of plays that keep critics abuzz and everyone guessing",Chicago Tribune, January 16, 2005
  6. ↑ Rawson, Christopher. "Stage Review: Artful 'Intimate Apparel' takes the wraps off hidden lives" Post-Gazette, May 13, 2007
  7. ↑ Stabler, David. "Powerful Portland actor Vin Shambry plays with sensuality and danger in ART's 'Intimate Apparel'" oregonlive.com, September 10, 2014
  8. ↑ Zinoman, Jason. "Lynn Nottage Enters Her Flippant Period" The New York Times, June 13, 2004
  9. ↑ Gates, Anita. "As the World Turned for Women in 1905" New York Times, October 1, 2010
  10. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio. "Lynn Nottage's 'Intimate Apparel' Wins 2004 Steinberg New Play Award" playbill.com, April 5, 2004
  11. ↑ Gans, Andrew and Simonson, Robert. "'Wicked', 'Assassins', 'Henry IV', 'Wife' Win Drama Desk Awards" playbill.com, May 16, 2004

External links

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