Intimate Apparel, Park Theatre

This Theatre Bath production starring Tanya Moodie transfers to Finsbury's Park Theatre for its British premiere. Intimate Apparel opened this week at Bath’s Ustinov Studio to rapturous reviews. Earning five and four stars, it will be a very hot ticket once it arrives in London. 

The Story...

Set in turn of the century New York, Esther (Tanya Moodie) is a black seamstress specialising in intimate apparel. In her lucrative if secretive business, she hopes to raise enough to open a salon specially for black women. Her other abiding hope is to find a husband, which seems a tangible possibility when she begins receiving letters from a Caribbean gentleman digging the Panama Canal. We see Esther and her patrons, from prostitutes to wealthy white businessmen, interact in the lonely boarding house room from which she runs her business. The elaborately frothy frilled underwear and corsets create stunning costumes while also exploring the idea of intimacy.

The Background...

The play was inspired by a photograph the playwright Lynn Nottage found of her great-grandmother, a seamstress who married a Barbadian immigrant. Nottage is a warm and passionate voice for black female characters; her play Ruined which opened at the Almeida in 2010 received support from Amnesty International and in the US it was showered with awards including the Pulitzer Prize. Intimate Apparel has been an extraordinary success in America, where the illustrious New York Roundabout Theatre Company brought it to life in 2004. The company’s artistic director described it as a “seminal moment” in their history. Oscar-winning Viola Davis took on the role of Esther for a special benefit performance. In 2010, Nottage was honoured with the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright’s Award.

The Production...

Tanya Moodie is an inspired choice for the part of Esther . A gentle, soft-spoken woman in real life, she is a powerhouse onstage. She starred alongside Lenny Henry last year in the phenomenally successful Fences for which she received a Best Actress nomination. Another RADA alumni, Ilan Goodman stars as the shy Jewish haberdasher, Mr Marks. Playing Mayme is Rochelle Neil , who you can catch this August in the film Meet the Guvnors. 

The Ustinov Studio’s artistic director Laurence Boswell takes the helm. This Olivier award-winning director has worked with stars ranging from Eddie Izzard to Anna Pacquin and earlier this year received acclaim for his trilogy of Spanish Golden Age plays.