Some years after my husband passed away, I met a young woman in
one of my classes looking to move from her ‘’old apartment’ to a ‘new place’.
As an empty nester in every sense of the word, I offered a room in my house.
I was in my fifties she was younger and from my many conversations/interviews
with her, she seemed on the level and had a good job. She was an assistant
warden at the Federal Prison downtown… and no, she did not have a gun that she
brought home (I did ask). That would have been a deal breaker. But she did have
a piano that was never played in my house (just for the record) but I did make
room for it.
It was pretty much a cut and dry deal. I thought the money
from the rent she would give me would finance the many future trips I wanted to
take.
It was an amenable arrangement. We were both workingwomen and
our paths crossed mostly in the morning before she went to work and I went on my
morning walk. She was home from her job before my classes ended in the evening. We chatted briefly and at best shared perhaps half dozen meals. After about five or six months into our roommate situation, she
got a job promotion in Long Beach and I was an empty nester again. Bada -boom!
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| Linda Gehringer and Tessa Auberjonois |
Jen Silverman’s “The Roommate” directed by Martin Benson is now making its West Coast Premiere at South Coast Repertory
Theatre through Jan 22nd. This set of roommates isn’t quite as cut and dry
as my ‘roommate’ experience. In fact she set the stage for some fun and games experiments yet left a bittersweet moment
that had me wanting to know more.
Sharon lives in Iowa and Robyn is escaping….ooops resettling
from the Bronx, to of all places…Iowa. Why, you might ask from the Bronx
(“Isn’t the Bronx dangerous?”) to Iowa? Good question, although the answer is
somewhat perplexing: “I lived in Iowa for three years in grad school…I knew I
was going to write about Iowa”. (Silverman)
Playwright Silverman (who has yet to approach the bewitching
old age of fifty) tries to answer that question and more in about 85 minutes or
so. Her abbreviated approach to write such an essay on what she claims is a
much overlooked segment of the population, or in her own words, “I wasn’t
seeing roles in which older women who were total badasses”, does resonate
truth. My one disagreement with the playwright is the overworked word, ‘older’.
Fifty is the new thirty and would that I could revisit it again.
 |
| Teresa Auberjonois and Linda Gehringer |
Sharon (Linda Gehringer) and Robyn (Tessa Auberjonois) have
about as much in common as the fish that swim in the ocean have with the birds that
fly the skies. Some exceptions however, both are looking for change, both have
children (sight unseen) that undervalue their mother’s roles in their lives and
both have secrets that will be revealed over the course of the play.
We first meet up with them when they are unloading boxes of
Robyn’s stuff from her car to Sharon’s front porch (“Is your porch safe?” ”Do
you lock your doors?”). It is here we find out that Robyn is a vegan, drinks
Almond milk, smokes (oops Sharon forgot to ask about that) pot, writes slam poetry,
was a potter who made voodoo looking dolls, her grandmother was from Iowa and she’s
gay!
On the other side of the coin, Sharon belongs to a book club
or reading group, is a mother, is a retired wife (her husband left her), has a
little night -cap now and then as opposed to smoking medicinal herbs a la
Robyn’s style and can't understand why her son never visits.
The good news for Sharon is that she is more accepting to try
new things than Robyn. Into the play we catch the both of them sharing a joint,
practicing a little con job on Sharon’s friends (you’ll have to see the play to
get that one) and sharing adult children stories.
 |
| Linda Gehringer |
Sharon has more curiosity about Robyn than vice-versa, ergo
she learns more about her roommate’s dark past than her roommate is willing to
share simply by snooping around Robyn’s ‘things’.
The story takes some bizarre twists and turns, some
believable -some off the wall especially Sharon’s willingness to go along and
even embrace some of Robyn’s illegal activities, once she learns of them.
The good news is that both
gals are up to the task. Gehringer has the ‘deer in the wilderness’ look most
of the time, but with a mischief looking smile from ear to ear. Auberjonois is cool, calm and collected,
always willing to let her mate try something new to break open her closed down
self.
Technical qualities always rank high at SCR and new plays are
well worth the 90 -minute drive north. John Iacovelli designed a well- detailed
two-story farmhouse with front porch and working kitchen.
Brian Gale’s lighting design is stunning bringing forth light
from darkness into Sharon’s kitchen, Michael Roth designed the original music
and soundscape and Angela Balogh Colin’s costumes define the character’s look
to a tea; Sharon with mismatched skirt, blouse and sweater and tennis shoes and
Robyn in jeans, earth shoes and flamboyant and colorful looking shirts.
Both women do their best with the material given them. Both
are able to bring out the humor, the unfulfilled dreams, the loneliness, the
‘other’ and the willingness to try to make it work for them. They also push the agenda
forward that the playwright had in mind with an authenticity that comes along
with the ideas. And there are some pretty decent ideas. For me though it was the
distressing emptiness that left me sad, in some ways, to see it end as abruptly as
it did.
Silverman has a point. The Golden Girls might just have been
left out of the conversation had not she opened up the dialogue.
It’s worth a try.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: Through Jan. 22nd
Organization: South Coast Repertory Theatre
Phone: 714.708.5555
Production Type: Comedy
Where: 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA.
Ticket Prices: Start at $22.00
Web: scr.org
Venue: Julianne Argyros Stage
Photo: Debora Robinson/SCR
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