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African Continuum Theatre Company
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3523 12th Street NE, Second Floor
Washington DC 20017-2545
202-529-5763

 

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A Professional Company in residence at
The Atlas Performing Arts Center
4 Show Season
One show named Ushers' Favorite Show
2 Helen Hayes Awards
2 Mayors Awards, 1 Washington Post Award
Multiple shows designated Potomac Stages Picks
Price range $27 - $37
Click here to see archived reviews for this theater

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April 24 - May 18, 2008
Intimate Apparel
Reviewed April 26 by David Siegel

Running Time 2:35 - one intermission
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A Potomac Stages Pick for a remarkably delicate production of love lost

Click here to buy the script


Whispered secrets, sexual awakenings and betrayals are front and center in this tender and remarkably delicate production as the African Continuum Theater company resurrects itself from its near death to produce Intimate Apparel. Upon entering the theater space, one is made ready to be absorbed as a striking multi-layered contraption of a set, chock full of steps and hidden places, objects and props awaits. With a well balanced ensemble of actors working together seamlessly calling up complicated characters in various phases of heartache and heartbreak, this production does not become a hankie inducing melodramatic cry fest. Under Jennifer L. Nelson’s steady and knowing hand, this is a creation that conjures up loneliness and then illuminates things for those who care about love, or the lack thereof, as a transformative experience. Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel is a poem of love and loss from the point of view of mature individuals learning that affection and emotional intimacy can come from unexpected quarters, and that opening a heart can be deadly. The production is well served not only by its ensemble working as a whole, but by a finely subtle performance by Deidra LaWan Starnes in the lead role, and by Annette Dees Grevious as the shrewd but needy prostitute. Area favorite, Jewell Robinson, is all refinement and understatement as the older mentor. Susan Lynskey, Zuanna Sherman and Daniel Eichner each add critical pieces to the audience’s enjoyment.

Storyline: The daughter of a former slave moves north to New York City and makes a career for herself as a seamstress crafting "intimate apparel" for a wealthy, mostly white, clientele. As highly trained as she is with a needle, she doesn't read or write, so when a laborer on the Panama Canal begins to write to her, she seeks the help of friends and customers to craft her responses. Unbeknownst to her, he too is illiterate, relying on assistance to create the gentle missives he sends. Romance blooms and he travels to the US to marry her. She's not getting exactly what she expected, however, and their tribulations teach each many lessons. 

Lynn Nottage, born in 1964, is a graduate of Yale School of Drama. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and in September 2007, the MacArthur Foundation presented her with its “genius award.” Intimate Apparel was co-commissioned and produced at Baltimore’s CenterStage in 2003. In 2004 it was produced Off-Broadway to critical acclaim. Jennifer L. Nelson has taken a very visual approach in her direction. Her technical design team has given high curb appeal to the set so that an audience will spend time before the show just trying to figure out all the nooks and crannies. Nelson’s cast is an experienced one with nary a weak link, though on press night there were some dropped lines and minor miscues here and there; all to be forgiven. She has her cast go through their dramatic paces as they are each called upon for great big physical and verbal moments as well as modest tender gestures; some are also asked to provide arrogant, forceful, sometimes violent deliveries and then switch to be meek, humble, speaking in almost beaten-down tones. They do pull it off.  Intimate Apparel is a play that first and foremost requires that the touch of hand to a piece of cloth be felt and seem like a lover touching for the first time. There is success here with that sensuality.

As the central character, Deidra LaWan Starnes finds modesty, almost timidness, about herself that is so very well suited to her role. Against her the other actors are arrayed and move about. It is a juxtaposition as if the sun revolves around the moon. Starnes seems slight in stature and can be so very reserved and diffident in her acting, as if she wants to walk and breathe without making a sound. When she is courted through long distance letters from an unanticipated paramour, Zuanna Sherman, Starnes brightens, taking on a womanliness that had been hidden under high collar blouses, long full skirts and her near murmur of delivery. As she moves about the stage, interacting with others, she does not falter as the quiet central presence. Slight definitely, scared maybe, timid sure - but they all circle her and need her or they do not exist. When she touches cloth or puts her hand across another’s body, there is a quiet spark that is felt. As for Sherman, his strong, rich, deep voice resonates from the back of the stage to the deepest reaches of the audience. He is one of earthy strength and manliness as we meet him in Act I. As he moves through Act II, he becomes a man beaten down without a job, borrowing money from his wife and slowly taking on a menacing and aggressive bearing toward her. We are asked to understand his pain, but can hate him for his emotional violence to his wife. Annette Dees Grevious is all brass, hiding her neediness behind her open thighs and quick broad smile. She is a jumble of high energy with non-stop movement, arms akimbo. She is like an ocean of waves wanting to be calmed by the slow hands of a good man, even if that man is the husband of her best friend. Jewell Robinson is the played-out and tired older woman of experience without happy expectations any more of life, but wanting to rescue the young women who become her charges. Susan Lynskey delivers a kiss that had the audience on press night gasping in disgust; it seemed to this reviewer, though, that it was the chaste kiss of one seeking a connection, rather than of sexuality.

The audience is met with the syncopated pre-show music. Throughout the production music is used to bridge the two Acts and 13 scenes. There is also music within several scenes from a player piano. With a number of beds in view, there is an expectation of sexual energy, but they are really beds of melancholy devoid of passion or life. This reviewer’s eyes took a long, deep look at the rich amber hues of the set and the lighting that was at times like the morning sun rising all warm and expectant on a late spring morning. The costumes were very evocative of time and place and social strata. Soon enough they were no longer costumes, but just outfits, that is the way it should be.

Written by Lynn Nottage. Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson. Design: Klyph Stanford (set and lights) Diana Khoury (costumes)  Tim Jones (properties) Chas Marsh (sound) Cliff Russell (photography) Caroline Listul (stage manager). Cast: Daniel Eichner, Annette Dees Grevious, Deidra LaWan Starnes, Susan Lynskey, Jewell Robinson, Zuanna Sherman.