Pittsburgh in the Round: There is a certain added poignancy felt when watching the marvelously, passionately staged work Intimate Apparel at the University of Pittsburgh Stages. Set in New York in 1905 and functioning as a quasi-autobiography of the playwright Lynn Nottage’s own grandmother’s story, Apparel tells the story of a young woman who makes the pilgrimage to America to work as a seamstress and pursue the sensationalized ideal of the American dream
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I didn't know The University of Pittsburgh Stages was producing Intimate Apparel. Lynn Nottage is one of my favorite playwrights. Another play she wrote, Ruined, is also a fantastic work. Her excellence is of course, in part, due to her educational background. She attended BU and The Yale School of Drama. Her work is usually a provocative stance on African American descent. One of the greatest things I like about Intimate Apparel is that it tells a very interesting love story between the main characters Esther and Mr. Marks. The story will surely shatter your heart. I am absolutely planning on going to see this play now. I've seen it several times and it is always worth every penny.
Being a sewing geek I am interested in this play. The plot sounds excellent but I am curious to know how accurate the sewing logistics in the play are. Knowing how sometimes, whether with or without research, scripts can lean heavily on unrealistic portrayals of less common skills like sewing, tennis even dance. Things an audience understands the fundamentals of but lack the knowledge necessary to pin point inaccuracies. My favorite example of this is in movies where they use electric shock to start a heart. In reality the electric shock stops the heart in hopes that the heart's natural electric current can catch up to itself and find its natural rhythm. This goes unnoticed because the audience understands the fundamentals of a heart and electricity but lack the deeper intelligent to to find flaws, so on a surface level it seems accurate and is accepted as reality. Just as this probably drives medical students crazy I'm sure I would dislike the play, regardless of its content, if sewing were inaccurately portrayed.
Wow! Reading this theatre review in comparison to the previously listed article of the Playboy of the Western World review it is very interesting to see how much influence a review can have. The Playboy review, though it was literally one hundred percent positive, did not make me interested in seeing Carnegie Mellon’s production at all. It as vague and the incessant positivity makes it seem like a lie. This review discusses choices made by this creative team that make me engaged in this production of this show. Something important about theatre to me is what will i get out of seeing your show that i won’t get from reading the book in my bed, and this review lays that all out. This article is also mainly happy, so it makes me wonder if reviews of educational productions are just supposed to be void of cricticsm.
This play sounds very interesting. The story about a woman who comes as a seamstress and all of the things that she learns on her journey sounds fascinating. I also think it’s amazing that this historical play has a female main character. All too often in history we only see that male perspective, as most textbooks only focus on men. Almost every person in history books focuses on the influence and achievements of male. It’s amazing for the girls who see this show to be reminded that they too are a part of history, regardless of if the play is based on a true story. Women were often in the background in history and to see the journey of one highlighted, even if it's only for a theatrical work is a great opportunity for women to be included in the story. I wish that I had gotten the opportunity to see this play, as it sounds extremely interesting.
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