By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
From left, Mayme (Sarah Hollis), Esther (Tracey N. Bonner) and Mrs. Van Buren (Dawn Cantwell) find strength in working together.
A sewing machine and a brass bed of early 20th century style are the defining poles of life for 35-year-old Esther (Tracey N. Bonner), never married but quite successful in her New York City business of designing and creating ladies' intimate undergarments of irresistible charm.
It is 1905 and we are at Arizona Theatre Company's thought provoking production of “Intimate Apparel.” Esther sells her romantic creations to other women – some wealthy and a bit older, others younger with their own dreams of forbidden pleasure to be sold on demand to any man who can pay the price.
Esther is also Black, free enough to create and sell her wares to all comers but limited by the white Patriarchal society of those times in her choices of men she can marry. Throughout “Intimate Apparel” we watch intense men and women whose lives are limited in some way by either race, religion, age, gender or social status
Esther is at the heart of what could be called a good old-fashioned period romance now updated by playwright Lynn Nottage and directed here by Oz Scott to serve the minds of modern audiences.
As the title implies, Nottage brings her audience into the wider world of all women, not just single women of color but also unhappily married white women of wealth like Mrs. Van Buren (Dawn Cantwell), and a younger lady, Mayme (Sarah Hollis),wise in the ways of the street. There is also Mrs. Dickson (Saundra McClain), Esther's landlady.
Together these women become a potent ensemble force onstage, united in their talents as well as in their intentions to display how life's inequalities 120 years ago may not have been as binding as you might imagine. But on the other hand, also implying today's rules for women may have loosened some but still have a ways to go.
Representing the male side in this equation are brawny George (Corey Jones), a black laborer off to Central America to find work on the Panama Canal. George cannot read or write, but somehow with the help of friends he has managed to write and mail letters to Esther, who having no husbandly prospects of her own, is happy to receive them. She also depends on friends to write and mail her responses.
Jones is excellent at capturing the bravado as well as insecurity of a man penned in by circumstances beyond his control. He chafes at knowing his immense muscle power has definite limitations.
Esther has also come to know Mr. Marks (Aaron Cammack) a proudly Orthodox Jew and haberdasher who appreciates the rich qualities of fabrics he sells to Esther. In her heart she feels far closer to Marks, but knows he would impossible to marry.
The magic of the story is in the way Nottage depicts how society's unspoken and unchallenged rules were still being subverted by women from very different walks of life. Yet they still found common grounds to cooperate and help each other survive.
"Intimate Apparel” runs through Feb. 10 with performances at various times Wednesdays through Sundays at the downtown Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.
Tickets are $25-$90. For details and reservations phone 833-ATC-SEAT (282-7328) or visit www.atc.org
ATC's COVID protocol recommends wearing masks, but masks are not required.
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