Black experience amplified in SCR’s ‘Intimate Apparel’

Tom Titus

In 1905, barely four decades after the Civil War, most emancipated

African-Americans had little cause for celebration. For the most

part, they found themselves working twice the hours for about half

the pay of their light-skinned counterparts.

Playwright Lynn Nottage pays tribute to her ancestors of a century

ago in her latest work, “Intimate Apparel,” which is receiving its

world premiere on the Segerstrom Stage of South Coast Repertory. It’s

a moving, engrossing, if ultimately uneven story beautifully depicted

under the direction of Kate Whoriskey.

In this amalgam of history and fiction, Nottage’s characters burn

brightly as representatives of a time and place -- a New York City

garment factory and, as a significant appendage, the Panama Canal in

the midst of its construction. In this background, Esther Mills, a

Negro woman unmarried and still virginal at 35, sets out on a

determined course to avoid approaching spinsterhood.

She can neither read nor write, but with assistance from friends

black and white, she conducts a long-distance correspondence with

George Armstrong, a West African man laboring on the canal -- also

illiterate, though each keeps this shame from the other.

A sight-unseen proposal, an awkward marriage and the predictable

disappointment that follows are depicted with heartfelt emotion in

the SCR production, which reaches repeated peaks and valleys. It is

on the latter plane that “Intimate Apparel” closes, however, leaving

its audience yearning for a more satisfying denouement.

One factor that definitely does not disappoint is the outstanding

performance of Shane Williams as Esther, whose lifelong determination

to better her station dissolves in a moment of irrational optimism.

Williams draws her audience into her heart and soul, sharing her

hopes and dreams with a mixture of strength and naivete.

As the charismatic canal worker who woos her by mail with

unbridled enthusiasm, Kevin Jackson is charged with the difficult

task of turning his character around 180 degrees in the second act.

That he succeeds as well as he does in his presentation of

alternating strength and weakness is a testimony to his performing

skills.

Erica Gimpel has the play’s showiest role, that of a hooker in the

city’s seedy Tenderloin district, and she takes full advantage of the

opportunity in a richly robust interpretation that deftly avoids the

taint of cliche. Sue Cremin impresses as an upper-class matron who

offers Esther a surprising and shocking alternative lifestyle.

Esther’s one true supporter, her longtime landlady, is played with

homespun heartiness by Brenda Pressley. Steven Goldstein contributes

an interesting performance as a Jewish garment maker who, like

Esther, is betrothed to someone he’s never seen and maintains a tight

rein on his true feelings.

Walt Spangler’s sprawling, multi-unit setting allows for multiple

usage, particularly the bed that serves as its centerpiece. The

period costumes of Catherine Zuber and Scott Zielinski’s intriguing

lighting designs further enhance the physical charm in a sepia,

vintage photograph atmosphere.

Nottage has a potentially important work in “Intimate Apparel,”

once she polishes the play’s inconclusive second act. As it stands,

the history -- and Williams’ immaculate performance -- are quite

enough to merit a recommendation.

* TOM TITUS’ reviews run Thursdays and Saturdays.