By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
Sharon (Angela Pierce), left, and Robyn (Sara Gettelfinger) lived in culturally opposite worlds their whole lives,,,,then they became roommates.
Are you one of those people who wake up in the middle of the night, filled with a lifetime of worries. By 3:17 a.m., life has become impossible, but when dawn finally does break all those problems begin to seem a little more manageable. And once that's done, the whole day doesn't seem too bad.
Well, if you are, Arizona Theatre Company's new play, “The Roommate,” brings a lifeline of possibilities. Written by Jen Silverman, directed by Marsha Mason, “The Roommate” offers a road map of hope for two diametrically opposed women in their 50s (or so) who meet by chance but then discover they both wish life would give them a fresh “Do Over.”
Robyn (Sara Gettelfinger) is tall and slender, born and New York raised in the Bronx, given to wearing leather clothing and, as the play opens, finding herself in Iowa City, Iowa, ready for the Midwest to show her what it's got.
Sharon (Angela Pierce) is a dyed-in-the-wool Iowan dedicated to believing in the importance of being nice. But way inside of herself Sharon can't help wondering what it would be like to become someone less predictable.
The scene is set when Robyn answers Sharon's newspaper ad looking for a roommate to share expenses. Quickly we also learn Robyn is an extreme vegetarian and a “homosexual.”
Sharon loves it. Robyn isn't so sure.
The first act is mostly the two mismatched women getting to know each other – with lots of cross-cultural jokes about the differences between the Bronx and Iowa City.
There is also a kind of balancing act going on – a re-balancing act, actually – as Sharon begins to see opportunities in this less-nice lifestyle that Robyn lives to the hilt.
Theatrically, both women's characters begin as forces of opposition. As their dialogue continues, both Sharon and Robyn are moving past each other, away from where each began way back at the start of Act One.
There are lessons to be learned here. It's never too late to start over. Don't close your mind to new opportunities, That sort of thing.
But my favorite is to stop waiting for someone else to come along to change your boring life. Dive in to make that change yourself.
“The Roommate” runs through April 4, with performances at various times Tuesdays through Sundays in the downtown Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. For details and reservations visit atc.org or phone 833-ATC-SEAT.
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