Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage Show Information
The Plot
Set in 1905 New York, Intimate Apparel tells the story of Esther, a lonely, single African-American woman who makes her living sewing beautiful corsets and ladies’ undergarments. There is warm affection between her and the Orthodox Jewish man who sells fabrics to her, but any relationship between them, even a touch, is completely forbidden. Seeking love and romance, Esther eventually embarks on a letter-writing relationship with a mysterious suitor laboring on the Panama Canal. When he moves to New York they embark on an unhappy marriage, leading Esther to realize that only her self-reliance and certainty of her own worth will see her through life’s challenges.
Age advisory: 13+. This play would be rated PG-13 if the MPAA rated plays. |
The Playwright
From Lynn Nottage's website lynnnottage.com: "Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter. She is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. ...Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg "Mimi" Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, TIME 100 (2019), Merit and Literature Award from The Academy of Arts and Letters, Columbia University Provost Grant, Doris Duke Artist Award, The Joyce Foundation Commission Project & Grant, Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, the Lee Reynolds Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors include the National Black Theatre Fest's August Wilson Playwriting Award, a Guggenheim Grant, Lucille Lortel Fellowship and Visiting Research Fellowship at Princeton University. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She is also an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at Columbia School of the Arts." |
The Director
Weléla Mar Kindred is grateful and excited to be working with such a talented cast, crew and The St. Croix Festival Theater this spring for the production of "Intimate Apparel" by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. She is an American actress, director, contemporary dancer + choreographer, designer and multimedia artist who works with youth, cinema, dance, fashion, tech and sustainability. She is an NYU & Harvard Fellow in body politics. She was also a Dean's Fellow in performance + cinema at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is becoming one of the most sought after directors and actresses in theater and international cinema. She would like to deeply bow to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, her dear friend Victor Love for his constant love, laughter, patience and support. And finally - where would she be without the loving encouragement from family, friends and colleagues. Let's ALL continue to love! www.lvmbcollective.com |
Director's notes on Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage
First and foremost, THANK YOU for welcoming me to the St. Croix Festival Theatre. This collaborative partnership has been a great opportunity to bring diverse, truthful and modern storytelling to the St. Croix Festival stage, and we appreciate you being here to experience it.
Intimate Apparel is intensely special to me not only because it is written so eloquently, but it is also the first work presented at the St. Croix Festival Theatre written by a black playwright. Lynn Nottage is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, so it was an honor to direct this work by such a prolific woman of color, collaborate with Jason Richards (Artistic Director SCFT) and the company guest artists who helped bring this work to life.
Consider now, how far you would go to not be alone? What would you do if you lived in a major city-centre in a cramped apartment building away from family - would the city affect your emotional well-being, your decisions? You may have been a rebel, and maybe the only friends you had were in the same boat - flawed, emotionally unstable and alone. What decisions would you make from one fleeting moment to the next?
I approached this work with that in mind - and love was the driving force. For me, our human history from 1905 to 2022 has not changed dramatically. Though my inspirations included young independent black women who were business owners, street art, graffiti, youth bike culture, fashion from London, Paris to NYC and music - these aesthetics can only frame the visual tone. The most important themes I discovered were freedom, love and how living in a city-centre may change one’s moral choices. New York 1905 had its many attractions, art and culture. There were so many wild inventions at the turn of the century - fully functioning subways, electricity and of course the wild dreamland of Coney Island.
Black women could own property, although it was terribly difficult for black men to find steady employment. In fact - sex workers, regardless of cultural backgrounds, were some of the most lucrative business owners at that time, due to the influx of men who moved to New York for construction work. Many may be surprised that these women helped fund city hospitals, schools, roads and other city projects. During the same time, the Panama Canal transported men from the Caribbean to construct the canal - however they lived in subhuman working conditions and many died of dehydration, exhaustion and disease. Therefore, any opportunity to move north to New York City would have been the chance of a lifetime, despite not knowing what may lie ahead on those cobblestone roads and in between skyscrapers.
Perhaps we may judge these earlier New Yorkers, but they fought for their survival and endured the same things we do now. They loved, and thought they might even remain in love forever. They suffered, celebrated and stored pleasure and pain underneath beautiful clothes. And for some - they might have even worn delicate lace front apparel to perhaps protect their soft hearts from ever being hurt again. This is the story of: Intimate Apparel. Thank you for being here.
Warmly,
Weléla Mar Kindred
Director of Intimate Apparel
St. Croix Festival Theatre
April 21- May 1 2022
First and foremost, THANK YOU for welcoming me to the St. Croix Festival Theatre. This collaborative partnership has been a great opportunity to bring diverse, truthful and modern storytelling to the St. Croix Festival stage, and we appreciate you being here to experience it.
Intimate Apparel is intensely special to me not only because it is written so eloquently, but it is also the first work presented at the St. Croix Festival Theatre written by a black playwright. Lynn Nottage is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, so it was an honor to direct this work by such a prolific woman of color, collaborate with Jason Richards (Artistic Director SCFT) and the company guest artists who helped bring this work to life.
Consider now, how far you would go to not be alone? What would you do if you lived in a major city-centre in a cramped apartment building away from family - would the city affect your emotional well-being, your decisions? You may have been a rebel, and maybe the only friends you had were in the same boat - flawed, emotionally unstable and alone. What decisions would you make from one fleeting moment to the next?
I approached this work with that in mind - and love was the driving force. For me, our human history from 1905 to 2022 has not changed dramatically. Though my inspirations included young independent black women who were business owners, street art, graffiti, youth bike culture, fashion from London, Paris to NYC and music - these aesthetics can only frame the visual tone. The most important themes I discovered were freedom, love and how living in a city-centre may change one’s moral choices. New York 1905 had its many attractions, art and culture. There were so many wild inventions at the turn of the century - fully functioning subways, electricity and of course the wild dreamland of Coney Island.
Black women could own property, although it was terribly difficult for black men to find steady employment. In fact - sex workers, regardless of cultural backgrounds, were some of the most lucrative business owners at that time, due to the influx of men who moved to New York for construction work. Many may be surprised that these women helped fund city hospitals, schools, roads and other city projects. During the same time, the Panama Canal transported men from the Caribbean to construct the canal - however they lived in subhuman working conditions and many died of dehydration, exhaustion and disease. Therefore, any opportunity to move north to New York City would have been the chance of a lifetime, despite not knowing what may lie ahead on those cobblestone roads and in between skyscrapers.
Perhaps we may judge these earlier New Yorkers, but they fought for their survival and endured the same things we do now. They loved, and thought they might even remain in love forever. They suffered, celebrated and stored pleasure and pain underneath beautiful clothes. And for some - they might have even worn delicate lace front apparel to perhaps protect their soft hearts from ever being hurt again. This is the story of: Intimate Apparel. Thank you for being here.
Warmly,
Weléla Mar Kindred
Director of Intimate Apparel
St. Croix Festival Theatre
April 21- May 1 2022
