“Intimate Apparel” by Lynn Nottage is a story about 35-year-old Esther, a skilled seamstress in New York City. The year is 1905. She lives in a boarding house owned by Ms. Dickerson, a widow. This boarding house houses other women who are passing thru on their way to marriage. Esther has been living in the boarding house the longest with no proposal of marriage coming her way. She makes beautiful corsets and other intimate apparel for two of her clients, Mayme, a well-paid prostitute, who dreams of becoming a concert pianist and Mrs. Van Buren, an uptown married women in a childless, loveless marriage. There is a mutual attraction between herself and fabric merchant, Mr. Marks, an orthodox Jewish immigrant. They understand this relationship can never be more than what it is. Esther also has dreams. She has been saving her money over the years in hopes of owning her own beauty salon. She also dreams of being married and is afraid that she is getting too old. Her pastor’s nephew, while working on the Panama Canal, give her name and address to fellow co-worker, George Armstrong from Barbados. After an epistolary relationship, where Esther, not being able to read or write was helped by the other ladies, George proposes to Esther in one of the letters and she accepts. What a beautiful story if it ended there.

“Intimate Apparel” is one of my favorite plays. It reminds me of my family who immigrated from the Caribbean to New York City in the 50’s.

I am first generation to be born in America. My maternal Grandmother is from Barbados, my aunt was a seamstress in the garment district. Looking at faded pictures in a photo album I imagined how these people, my people, lived. I was hoping they lived in vivid color. The entire production of “Intimate Apparel” at Northlight Theatre was bathed in muted, faded, pastel tones. The set looked like the inside of a pale pink/baby blue corset. There is a full-sized bed in the middle of the stage with a sewing machine in front of it. This is Esther’s room. Left of the bed is a pink vanity set, signifying Mrs. Van Buren’s room. On the right of the bed, there is a pink upright piano, this Mayme’s room. Lights denote where the action was takes place. Nothing suggest New York City, 1905. It was a beautiful set, but this could have been Los Angeles, 1950. In addition Esther carries a leather handbag in her travels. Leather handbags real or fake didn’t come into vogue until the 1930’s. In 1905 Esther would carry a cloth bag possibly made by her. A small thing but it kept popping up.

There was nothing muted about the acting in this production. Mildred Langford is unforgettably poignant as the sorrowful, painfully shy Esther. In Langford’s eyes we see the strength and vulnerability, dignity and hurt, joy and pain of Esther. We suffer and rejoice with her, she becomes ours.

We want to protect her. Yao Dogbe has the best Caribbean accent I have heard on stage. He excels at portraying George Armstrong as a rough around the edges but good-hearted laborer and then revealing Armstrong’s more complex nature in Act 2. We want to feel for George’s plight, but our loyalties lay with Esther. Dogbe must be careful not to telegraph his intentions in Act 1 as I think he may have done at press opening. George is delivering his lines from a non-descript place behind scrim. Again, A design issue in my opinion. We, the audience, need to see George Armstrong’s face. We need to see his eyes. We need to believe and like George. The way it is presently staged, we, as audience members, are as much in the dark about George as Esther. Rebecca Spence does an excellent job portraying Mrs. Van Buren as a spoiled rotten, sex starved woman of privilege.  The beautiful Rashada Dawan as Mayme gives clear voice into the insecurities of her profession and a different point of view about marriage. The chemistry between Sean Fortunato’s Mr. Marks and Esther is apparent and heartbreaking. We wish that times were different, and this romance can be realized. Fortunato creates a man who appreciates fabric he cannot wear and admires a woman he cannot touch.

I love Felicia Fields; she brings vitality and life to every show I’ve seen her in. I hate to say this but, Felicia Fields was mis-cast. It appears that Northlight wanted some insurance of a packed house, so they hired someone who has a following. I can’t believe there was an open audition of equity actresses and ……..  . Fields is wonderful but not in this role. Mis-casting isn’t new, Denzel played Walter Lee at 60, David Alan Grier played Sgt. Waters…all to fill seats and these were on Broadway.

May 3, The role of George Armstrong will be taken over by the accomplished Al’Jaleel McGee. I know Al’Jaleel’s work. He will bring a new energy to this role making a return visit to Northlight more than worth it.

Director Tasia A Jones has directed a strong moving piece of theatre. The unidentified persons in the photos are brought to life. It is recommended for the beautiful acting

Intimate Apparel By Lynn Nottage at Northlight Theatre

April 14 – May 15

Tuesday: 7:30 May 3 only

Wednesday: 1:00pm and 7:30pm

Thursday: 7:30pm

Friday: 8:00pm

Saturday 2:30pm and 8:00pm

Sunday: 2:30pm and 7:00pm May 15 only

9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60077

(847) 673-6300