Arden Theatre Company presents Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel

Nottage’s discovery of a photograph of her great-grandmother inspired the script. “The image invited a thousand questions, none that could be answered by the living,” she wrote in 2022. “It led me on a journey to piece together the history of my great-grandmother Ethel, a woman who was basically a stranger to me.”

Intimate Apparel explores the depths of Ethel's life through her onstage corollary, Esther, an unmarried, independent woman who makes her living stitching corsets, dresses, and suits in her rented bedroom.

Sincere and bittersweet

Brandi Porter stuns in the lead role, playing Esther with a sincerity that draws audiences to root for her even as she makes imperfect decisions. A talented supporting cast provides subtle drama against which Esther struggles. David Pica endears as Mr. Marks, a Hasidic Jewish man who sells Esther her fabrics, always making sure to put aside special materials for her. In each of their scenes together, Porter and Pica capture the mounting tension of forbidden romance, leading to a bittersweet conclusion.

At the heart of Intimate Apparel is Esther's long-distance courtship with George (played with contagious energy by Akeem Davis), a Caribbean laborer who comes to New York City after finishing a long stint digging the Panama Canal. From the beginning, each actor’s sincere portrayal of their longing for each other confronts warning signs that Esther and George's marriage might be ill-fated.

Honoring forgotten women

Although director Amina Robinson’s production soars in its second act, the first half often falters rhythmically. Most of the play’s scenes are a conversation between Esther and one of the supporting characters. The paired actors always deliver a commendable performance, but at times, the production struggles to differentiate tone and pacing between textually similar scenes. The static stage layout, which portrays as many as five different apartments with little alteration to lighting or furniture orientation, compounds the similar feeling from scene to scene.

Despite this, the production makes good use of its strong cast and text, especially in its second half, as the threads of Esther's entanglements become twisted and frayed. Early on, while replying to a love-stricken letter from George, Esther asserts that nothing about her is worth committing to words. Intimate Apparel respectfully disagrees, honoring the legacy of a woman and those like her, whom history nearly forgot.