I thought today I would blog about the play we went to see on Sunday at Sinclair.  "Intimate Apparel" is about a young black woman, Esther,  living in New York City at the turn of the century. 

Esther Mills, a 35-year-old spinster, is sewing  as the play opens. It's 1905. A skilled seamstress who prepares exquisite corsets for brides on their wedding nights,  Esther lives and works in a New York City boarding house. Independent and feisty to a degree, she nevertheless cringes when she considers the unmarried life that lies before her. Her tightly knit support system includes Mrs. Van Buren, a childless socialite trophy wife; Mayme, a bright and artistic prostitute; Mr. Marks a Jewish factory owner who is Esther's friend and business associate,  and Mrs. Dickson, Esther's landlady. But these people can only do so much for our heroine.

 Then  one day a letter arrives, from a man named George Armstrong, a rangy Barbados native who is working on the construction of the Panama Canal. All grit and grime and grin, George describes the experience of watching "one man drop for every 20 feet of canal dug." And he speaks of coming to New York to meet Esther. The seamstress is intrigued but cannot respond because she is illiterate. So Mayme and Mrs. Van Buren  become her surrogate correspondents, and a relationship blossoms across the hemisphere.

 George at first seems like a romantic in his letters. From a distance, he marvels at the delicacy of Esther's work even before he has seen it.  Before long, the two meet and Esther is stitching her own wedding corset. There's a priceless moment featuring the new couple as contrasting images. The virginal bride, a slave's daughter who came North to sew intimate apparel and learn discretion, stands pristine in her lustrous, white satin gown on the opposite side of the bed from her scruffy, disheveled new husband, who is decked out in a misshapen tan wool suit. And although Esther assures her new man that she'd walk on his good arm,  their differences are an omen of what's to come.

Esther is blinded by her love for George and the fact that she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life alone.  George begins to show his true colors.  When he realizes that Esther has money, money that she has been saving for 18 years so she can open her own salon, he comes up with a story about buying 12 horses from a man so he can be in business for himself.  He claims to want to better their lives and provide for his wife.  Esther soon finds out that George is sleeping with Mayme.  After making Esther feel guilty, she gives George the money, knowing that she will never see it again.

I believe that even though Esther realizes she is alone again, she feels that instead of feeling sorry for herself, she moves back into the boarding house and starts over.  This time, I believe that she sees her future as being what she makes of it.  She realizes only she can secure her future and begins to do just that.

I loved the play and thoroughly enjoyed the cast.  Each one bringing so much to their roles.  I loved the way the stage was set also.  All scenes on one stage and the actors moving from room to room.  This made for seamless transitions into each persons relationship with Esther.  I truly felt the love each character had for Esther, and the love she felt for each of them.  It's a shame the run is over because I would highly recommend for everyone to go and see this play.  It really does tie in with the stories that we have been reading.