Yoni Bronstein as Mr. Marks and Renee Elizabeth Wilson as Esther in Theater J’s production of “Intimate Apparel.” Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.
Like the embroidered silk that makes several appearances in its story, “Intimate Apparel,” is finely made, full of small, precious details. Theater J’s new staging of the quietly luminous play, directed by Paige Hernandez, is lovingly crafted.
Like another of playwright Lynn Nottage’s plays, the Pulitzer-prize winning “Sweat,” the story is concerned with the beauty of ordinary lives. Set at the beginning of the 20th century in New York City, we meet Esther (Renee Elizabeth Wilson), a Black seamstress who sews intimate apparel, or undergarments. Though she loves her creations, she is lonely, wishing for a partner other than the men her landlady (Aakhu TuahNera Freeman) insistently recommends to her.
Theater J’s new staging of the quietly luminous play, directed by Paige Hernandez, is lovingly crafted.
Her romantic ideas are realized by the arrival of a letter from George (a very good Manu Kumasi), a Caribbean man helping to build the Panama canal. The two start a correspondence with the separate aid of Esther’s rich client, Mrs. Van Buren (Susan Lynskey) and friend Mayme (Awa Sal Secka), who both help her write responses. The gauzy draping of Paige Hathaway’s set means we hear the poetry of George’s correspondence through a veil, cleverly hinting that the man Esther imagines never quite materializes, even when he arrives to marry her.
Wilson’s quietly controlled performance as Esther is poignant, showing us her different facets—pleasant but more guarded with Mrs. Van Buren; confiding and intimate with her friend, Mayme, a saloon performer; and shyly excited with the Orthodox Jewish merchant, Mr. Marks (Yoni Bronstein), who sells her cloth. Their scenes together are some of the best of the show as Esther barely contains her joy at touching a new gorgeous silk, which has as much to do with the fabric as the man showing it to her.
Nottage’s beautiful dialogue has many moods, and is frequently funny. “I ain’t got anything to say to God and it don’t seem right to go to someone’s house if you’re not on speaking terms,” says the brusque Mayme to Esther when invited to her wedding to George. Nottage can also punctuate scenes with quietly devastating lines. “I make beautiful things,” Esther says with fragile defensiveness, after new husband George makes a careless remark.
Fantasies are a major through line of the show. Esther shares early on her dream of running a beauty parlor that would serve Black women. George, feeling thwarted at his new life in the U.S., dreams of business ownership, and increasingly expects Esther’s desires to make way for his.
Appropriate for a show about the making of clothes, the costuming by Moyenda Kulemeka is ornate, full of beading, silks, sequins, and prints. The simple setting makes Esther’s apparel shine, such as a gorgeous dressing gown for Mayme. While the characters’ fantasies meet some cruel realities, Esther does indeed make beautiful things, and the clothes remain material proof of the enduring power of her care.
Running time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
“Intimate Apparel” runs through November 13, 2022 at Theater J, 1529 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. For tickets and more information, click here. All patrons in the Goldman Theater are required to wear masks covering their nose and mouth. Masks are optional but encouraged in the Q Street and 16th Street lobbies, hallways, and other public spaces.
