As Smooth As Silk

At a recent rehearsal for Lynn Nottage's "Intimate Apparel" at TheatreSquared, director, actors and assorted designers are preoccupied with the minute, technical details that must be ironed out in any production so close to opening. The beautifully detailed set by scenic designer Jean Kim, which fills the T2 auditorium and offers patrons a startlingly intimate view of the performances, embodies four different spaces -- all bedrooms. Actor Britney Walker-Merritte must exit one side of the set and enter another in a short amount of time, requiring practice. The musical recording of ragtime piano music must be matched to the hand movements of the piano-playing actor on stage, and sound designer Sinan Zafar starts and stops the recording of piano playing until the coordination is perfect.

It should all be very dry for an onlooker, but even the very short bits of dialogue that are being run on stage are compelling in their lyricism. Walker-Merritte, who plays the shy seamstress Esther, and actor Toya Turner, who plays a prostitute whose hard shell hides her vulnerability, display a warmth and chemistry in their relationship that hints at the strong production that will greet audience members on opening night.

Nottage's poetic play tells Esther's story: in turn-of-the-century New York, she's a talented seamstress who creates beautiful, delicate lingerie -- the "intimate apparel" of the title -- for customers from all walks of life. The provocative nature of her sensual creations (and their intended use) are a direct contradiction to Esther's own buttoned-up, shy persona. She has lived for years in the same boarding house, where she has watched as her fellow roommates have, one by one, found marriageable men. Esther, on the other hand, has reached the age of 35 and is still alone. Through Nottage's tender script, we watch as she finds herself drawn to two men: one, a suitor she has never met, the other, a suitor she can never have.

"'Intimate Apparel' is one of the most captivating and moving plays that I've ever read or worked on," says director Shana Gold. "The first several times I got to the end, I burst into tears and just felt this sense of heartbreak and resilience of all the characters: immigrants, migrants, women and people of color, all with this sense of loneliness, longing and resilience."

Gold says the language of the play was a particular draw for her.

"The play and its language have a delicacy and a toughness -- like the beading on a piece of silk against the skin, the smell of fruit dyes, the strength of a good garment, the textures and nuance of embroidery, the power of making a gorgeous quilt out of scraps," she says. "All of the things that Lynn Nottage has put into these characters (and the fabrics they handle) is how intricate and beautiful the poetry of this play is -- each moment is so intricate and gorgeously wrought."

The play's heightened language, says Walker-Merritte, was a help to her as an actor.

"The language is comforting to me, because I also write and perform poetry as well," she says. "It is an absolute joy to combine two things that I love at once. The language allows me to indulge and play with every word that I am given. I have a particular section in the play where it's just me, painting a world in front of the audience, that allows me to explore the poetic language that is given to me."

Though the play is set in 1905, its themes remain provocative and relevant, says Gold.

"The issues that women were dealing with then and continue to deal with in our society -- of independence and feeling that their worth is only determined by a man and trying to find that independence and self-determination. It left me with a deep sense of the universality of the need for closeness -- our need for love, our need to be touched, our need to have connection to somebody who can see the worth in ourselves. Those are the things that continue to move me."

NAN What's Up on 03/24/2017