Photos by: Stan Barouh
The Roommate updates the classic opposites-attract story with a decidedly feminist verve. The new comedy smash penned by Jen Silverman, which runs at the Everyman Theatre until November 27th, is a “coming-of-age story” for two very different fiftysomething women: Sharon (Deborah Hazlett) is a corn-fed, casserole-baking divorcee, a woman from the heartland of Iowa who has had her heart broken by a ne’er do well ex-husband and a neglectful son. She’s now so stunningly lonely that she takes out an ad for a roommate just so she can have someone to talk to in the morning. The woman who answers that ad, Robyn (Beth Hylton), is a dynamo from the Bronx, a vegan (whatever that means), who wears ripped jeans and dirty boots, chain-smokes, and listens to loud music—a stark contrast to Sharon, who only owns one CD and seemingly no TV. Robyn’s freewheeling lifestyle shows Sharon that there’s another way to be a woman, particularly “a woman of a certain age,” that doesn’t involving hiding away in quiet apartments and taking in small groups at book club. Silverman’s script finds much of its comedy in the women’s substantial County Mouse, City Mouse-style differences; but it also mines an unexpected, yet wholly earned, pathos out of their shared struggles to learn that it is never too late to become the person you always wanted to be. No wonder then, that Silverman has received her fair share of accolades: She’s a member of New Dramatists and has had opportunities to work with The O’Neill, Williamstown, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, and Portland Center Stage, among other theatrical venues. Though she’s worked all over the country, Silverman displays an uncanny understanding of, and appreciation for, people who occupy a quieter corner of life.
One of the play’s great joys is seeing Hazlett’s Sharon slowly unclench her taut, anxious posture and learn to live a little under Robyn’s easy charm (not to mention a little herbal inducement). She isn’t merely a housewife version of Felix Unger, or straight woman to Robyn’s wild child—not when Hazlett invests her with a loneliness that feels palpable and real, and a wry intelligence that emerges over the course of the play’s 90-minute running time. Anyone who isn’t moved when Sharon finally has an urge to dance, moving with the awkward urgency of someone who wants to express herself even though she doesn’t fully trust or inhabit her own body, might just have a heart of stone. And, as Hylton plays her, Beth is no manic-pixie-dream-roomie, existing only to upend Sharon’s life in delightful and invigorating ways: Beth is a woman who simultaneously tries to live through, and run from, her own rough past, and Hylton allows cracks of this sadness and anxiety to play into a line reading or a facial expression in subtle, nuanced ways. Silverman’s script gives these two skilled, charismatic performers a whole range to play—from sorrowful to funny, brittle to loving, sweet to biting—and, as the only characters who grace the stage, they more than command our attention.
The play’s themes of self-empowerment and of learning to understand, if not embrace, people whose outlooks and lives are so very different than our own, are particularly resonant in today’s social and political climate. And The Roommate’s emphasis on giving women, especially women who aren’t the buxom beauties of prime-time TV, a place and a voice is one of the reasons that Vincent M. Lancisi, founding Artistic Director of the Everyman Theatre, was so enamored of the play after he first saw it at the Humana Festival in 2015: “I knew it was something that we just had to produce,” he says. “What Jen saw was a lack of representation of middle-aged women on our American stages, and she took that opportunity to create a unique story with two multi-dimensional, fully realized and funny women.” Lancisi praises, “two powerhouse performances by two of our resident company members.” These performances are amply supported by efforts of the Everyman Theatre’s creative teams. Costume designer Sarah Cubbage chooses outfits that truly describe and define the characters, without tipping them into caricature—from Sharon’s shapeless yet drably tasteful “Mom-wear” to Robyn’s rough-and-ready black jeans, oversized shirts, and dusty boots.
Then there is the stunning intimacy of Timothy R. Mackabee’s scenic designs: He turns the entire theatre space into Sharon’s quintessentially Midwestern home, with its tatty wallpaper, colonial kitchen set, clunky ‘80s-era smoke detector, dark brown cabinets, and poignant attempts at shabby chic. Most importantly, though, this set truly feels lived in—which is evident in everything from the tiny magnets adorning the fridge to the burn marks on the coffee-maker. The play’s sound design, which was created by Stowe Nelson, also enhances this sense of intimacy: We hear the slow build of a rain storm and the soft gurgle of a shower sputtering on, the rumble of a coffee pot and the thin crackle of radio. One must give kudos to Johanna Gruenhut, an Artistic Associate at The Everyman Theatre who is making her directorial debut with The Roommate. She’s leading a perfect symphony of cast and crew to create a vividly funny and heartbreakingly candid portrayal of two lonely women who forge a kind of surrogate family together. The play is thoughtful and fun—a welcome night out for anyone who loves good theatre.
Don’t Miss Mom’s Night Out, or all the empowered women in our lives!
MOM’S NIGHT OUT AT EVERYMAN
November 17, 2016
6pm cocktail party; 7:30pm show
Sponsored by (Cool) Progeny and the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
http://everymantheatre.org/cool-progenys-moms-night-out
Take a break, grab your girlfriends and join (Cool) Progeny and the DPOB for a pre show cocktail party before seeing THE ROOMMATE at Everyman Theatre. Discounted tickets are available for $40 with this special link
