“font-family: Verdana;”>“You will always be down, but you can’t count yourself out,” Niyi Coker describes a recurring theme in the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Nottage illustrates this once again in Intimate Apparel, which Coker, an E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, is directing at UMSL January 27 – Feb.4.
Intimate
Apparel
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>tells the story of Esther, a seamstress who sews ladies’ undergarments while attempting to weave together a happy life for herself at the turn of the 20th century. She is a single woman aching to share the love in her heart and obtain a husband to give herself a voice in a society where women’s station in life hangs in the balance of marriage.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Esther meets and quickly marries a Bahamian man whom she has been corresponding with while he was working to build the Panama Canal.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“He was coming from a place where he was being exploited horrendously. We had to explore that just a little more so the audience could understand where this man was coming from,” Coker said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“There’s no excuse, but we have to look at what drove him to this point – what ghosts he is trying to exorcise, you know.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Esther feels she has found her saving grace, but her lover is far from the man he has led her to believe him to be.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“It’s is a soft play but it gets you in the pit of your stomach,” Coker said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Before making the resolve to create the peace and love that she was expecting within her marriage, Esther is betrayed from all angles.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Though the life stations are limited for the female population (they aren’t even allowed to vote at the time Intimate Apparel is set), there are experiences with respect to relationships that ring true today in the age of the “single black female.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Women really do communicate differently and carry different burdens,” Coker said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Many feel like ‘whenever I’m ready, I can always find somebody.’ But for women it’s a little more complicated. I told my cast, the way you communicate is very different. I need you to understand certain things and to teach me. We had to explore that over and over.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Esther is played by Nabehah Azeez, and Esther’s husband George is played by Jason Little.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>One of those ‘relationship burdens’ that Esther experiences is having her entire identity and existence tied to having a spouse.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“There’s a point within the play where she says, ‘Now I’m somebody – now the women of the church speak to me,’” Coker said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>But as she watches her marriage fall to pieces in an unexpected way, she transcends the overwhelming sadness of returning to the life she thought marriage would allow her to leave behind.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“She seems to understand the spirit of forgiveness. She wanted to let that demon go,” Coker said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“This play also shows that love is a beautiful thing – and it truly does conquer all.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>University
of
Missouri-St. Louis’ presentation of Intimate Apparel will run
January 27 – Feb.4 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. For
tickets or more information, visit
“http://www.touhill.org/”>www.touhill.org
