Humana Festival 2015: Jen Silverman's "The Roommate" is part Neil Simon, part Quenten Tarantino

L-R: Tasha Lawrence and Margaret Daly
Photo: Bill Brymer

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Who: Actors Theatre of Louisville
What: The Roommate by Jen Silverman
When: March 4-April 12, 2015

[Watch my video capsule review with co-critic Tina Farmer.]

Jen Silverman's comedy-drama "The Roommate" puts a decidedly original spin on a shopworn theatrical device. The end result isn't entirely successful, but the story is inventive enough and the dialog smart enough to make for a worthwhile evening.

As the play begins, we're in what looks like familiar territory. In her mid-fifties, Iowa City housewife Sharon finds herself "retired" from her marriage and looking for a way to make ends meet. She advertises for a roommate to share expenses and specifies that only women in their fifties need apply.

She hopes, in short, to find someone much like herself. She winds up with Robyn, a vegan lesbian from the Bronx. From Sharon's perspective, she might as well be a resident of Oz.

The two are chalk and cheese. Sharon is solid and frumpy while Robyn is slim and graceful. Sharon is open, honest, and unsure of herself. Robyn, on the other hand, radiates self-confidence and is cagey about her prior personal and professional lives—with good reason, as it turns out.

Photo: Bill Brymer

As they try to get to know each other, it looks like we're in for yet another iteration of Simon's "The Odd Couple," with the mismatched pair becoming pals, growing and learning together, and eventually winding up better and stronger in the process. Soon, though, it becomes apparent that playwright Silverman is much more original than that. Growth and learning occur, but not entirely symmetrically, and not entirely for the better. Before long, things take a turn away from Simon and towards David Mamet. Or maybe Quentin Tarantino.

"I've been particularly interested in stories of how people transform themselves," says the playwright in an interview in the press kit, "or in people who are drawn or driven to a point in their lives where no choice is left to them but self-transformation." Both Sharon and Robyn are at that point, but as Sharon becomes increasingly enamored of Robyn's shady past, it becomes clear that transformation can be a two-edged sword.

I'm being deliberately vague about the story because Ms. Silverman's plot twists are part of what make "The Roommate" so much fun. Let it suffice to say that both Sharon and Robyn make some decisions that (to quote the playwright) "require a lot of boldness and recklessness, out of both desperation and desire for life."

Sharon is Margaret Daly, who St. Louis audiences will recognize as the down-to-earth Mrs. Drayton from the Rep's stellar production of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" earlier this year. Her Sharon appears similar at first, but appearances are deceiving. As the evening progresses it becomes clear that there's much more to this woman than the naïve Midwesterner we see in the opening scenes. Ms. Silverman's script puts Ms. Daly's character through some radical changes, and Ms. Daly makes even the less credible ones look and sound real.

Unlike Sharon, Robyn is closed and sly. The character goes through her own set of changes, but they're less overt. Tasha Lawrence's understated performance is pitched perfectly. She remains cool on the surface while still making it plain that there's turmoil underneath.

Photo: Bill Brymer

Mike Donahue's direction makes good use of the Bingham Theater's 360-degree playing area and sight lines appeared to be good everywhere. Andrew Boyce's detailed set looks exactly like the kind of kitchen Sharon would have. The show is, in short, technically perfect.

There are minor issues with the script. Subplots involving Sharon's absent son and Robyn's absent daughter never seem to go anywhere. Some of the more drastic changes in Sharon's character seem to come out of nowhere, and the final scene lacks the sense of dramatic resolution that I think the play needs. My co-critic Tina Farmer suggested that perhaps "The Roommate" would work better as a two act play (right now it's a 75-minute one act) that explores these issues in more depth.

Even so, in its current form this is an entertaining piece with two very strong and well-developed characters for middle-aged woman—still a relatively rare thing. And its technical demands are modest enough to make it a strong contender for smaller regional theatres. I would be very surprised if "The Roommate" didn't have a life beyond Humana in the coming years.

"The Roommate" runs through April 12th in the Bingham Theater at Actors Theatre of Louisville. It’s part of the 39th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. For more information: actorstheatre.org