Intimate Apparel at Theater J

Intimate Apparel

Theater J
1529 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington

The time is 1905, the place the Lower East Side. Sewing beautiful lingerie gives Esther, an African American seamstress, an intimate look at the love lives of her diverse clientele, but she yearns for a romance of her own. She finds herself in an epistolary courtship with a mysterious Caribbean man, though her heart secretly belongs to the Orthodox Jewish fabric merchant with whom she can never share a touch. Written by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and MacArthur "Genius Grant" Awardee Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined), this moving portrait of love, resilience, and the triumph of the human spirit has become one of the most beloved plays of our time.

Thru - Nov 13, 2022

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 202-777-3210

theaterj.org

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Intimate Apparel Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Recommended

"...Among playwright Lynn Nottage's exemplary qualities is the ability to draw sympathetic characters with an eye to the social conditions that shape them, even in the worst ways. In Intimate Apparel, now playing at Theatre J under the direction of Paige Hernandez, this facility is brought to bear on the story of a Black seamstress in early-20th-century New York City, whose aspirations and troubles are stitched into her work. Her journey through the play is bound not only to the garments she crafts but the achingly private moments that call for them, all of which are finely realized in this production."

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- Jared Strange

MetroWeekly - Recommended

"...In Paige Hernandez’s splendid staging of Intimate Apparel at Theater J, a lovingly sewn jacket of embroidered Japanese silk might bespeak a joyful wife’s hopes for a bountiful future with her new husband. Or, the same item of clothing might reveal the couple’s future together is in peril."

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- Andre Hereford

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...Hernandez and Theater J nimbly tell Esther’s story against the backdrop of international commerce, labor, and multicultural New York with the same skill that Esther sets a silk flower on a corset that few are intended to see."

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- Ian Thal

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...Like the embroidered silk that makes several appearances in its story, "Intimate Apparel," is finely made, full of small, precious details. Theater J's new staging of the quietly luminous play, directed by Paige Hernandez, is lovingly crafted."

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- Norah Dick

BroadwayWorld - Somewhat Recommended

"...Overall, Intimate Apparel is a fascinating look at an intriguing woman, time period, and world, but the production just didn't meet the standards Theater J has set for itself over the years."

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- Rachael F. Goldberg

Intimate Apparel at Theater J