“The Roommate” has two performers and just one set, a modest kitchen in a home in Iowa. Sharon, played by Kortney Adams, is a recently divorced, empty-nest mom living in Iowa. She’s decided to take in a roommate. And Robyn, played by Jackie Davis, has just moved from The Bronx to Iowa and has moved in with Sharon. Ocean State Media afternoon host Mareva Lindo and executive producer James Baumgartner have our review of the play.
Two women who are reaching out, but holding back
Mareva Lindo: You can tell immediately that this is an odd couple - so much about them is very different, made clear by their body language, the way they dress, the way they talk, and how forthcoming they are, or aren’t. Sharon has a hunger for connection. She’s reaching out, trying to find out more about Robyn, but Robyn is really holding back, being cagey about answering Sharon’s questions for a long time. But the actor who plays Robyn, Jackie Davis, kept us curious and did a great job of giving us a sense of her character even when we didn’t know much about her – through her physicality, the way she would lean back in her chair, her routines, how she reacted to Sharon, little things like that.
James Baumgartner: And Kortney Adams as the more reserved Sharon is outstanding as well with little mannerisms. For example, just the way she puts her hand on her collarbone. I love it when performers are able to tell us about their character without using any words.
An exaggeration of Midwestern innocence?
Baumgartner: Robyn has led the more exciting life and Sharon is very intrigued by this. At first, I felt like Sharon’s midwestern innocence was played a little over-the-top as she was shocked by Robyn’s life in New York City. But then I realized that I know people just like this from where I grew up in Kansas who are shocked by my tales from the east coast art world.
Lindo: I had a similar reaction to the character of Sharon. I grew up in Chicago, but I’ve known people, including some relatives, from small towns in Illinois who might have similar opinions about life in the big city.
A chance to try on new identities in middle age.
Lindo: One thing the two women share is that they’re both single moms around the same age, yearning to be closer with their kids, but not getting that for very different reasons. Most importantly, they are at an inflection point in their lives.
Baumgartner: Trinity Rep’s artistic director, Curt Columbus directs the production and this is his last play to direct during his tenure at the company. So he’s at an inflection point as well. But that’s not the only reason he selected “The Roommate.”
Curt Columbus: I am fascinated by the two women in this play because they’re in their 50s, they have become invisible to the rest of the world. And God damn it, they’re interesting. They’re fascinating. And there’s so much potential and the world is telling them that they’re kind of done. And it’s a play about that…. And it’s also about how we construct identity around the ways that it can provide structure for us, but then it provides constriction for us. And so Sharon has just gotten caught in this trap of, I’m this person, but she doesn’t fit there. And that’s kind of what she finds.
Final thoughts
Baumgartner: I loved watching these two women learn about each other and learn about themselves. That’s something great about having just two actors on stage, it really focused the attention just on them.
Lindo: It was funny and moving, and just a delightful time at the theater, in a way that felt really nice and refreshing. Jackie Davis and Kortney Adams have great chemistry, and they took us on a journey that felt very earned by the end.
“The Roommate” is on now through March 19 at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, in repertory with their production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” which runs through March 22.
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