The US Drama Department is proud to present the play Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, who is an acclaimed African American playwright and twice winner of the Pulitzer prize for Drama.  Nottage  currently teaches Creative writing at Columbia University and has received numerous awards for her work.

A diverse cast of students tell the story of this moving, yet humorous drama set in New York City in 1912. Life was tough for working people of colour. We meet five characters in five boudoirs, scattered around Lower Manhattan. Esther is a single, black 30- something woman who sews exotic lingerie for the wealthy society ladies and others who can afford it. They confide in her about their unhappy marriages.  She longs for love and her own home, wishing to escape the boarding house she has stayed in for many years.  She is befriended by a Caribbean man working in Panama who writes intimate letters to her via a mutual acquaintance. He sees America as the land of quick fortune and this is where Esther's troubles begin….

Esther has a few good, independent women friends and clients, like Mayme the attractive prostitute, the older, wise Mrs Dickson who owns the boarding house and Mrs Van Buren, a white socialite who longs to escape the boredom of her life and boorish husband. There is also the kind, Romanian-Jewish Mr Marks who shares Esther's love of fine fabrics and takes an interest in her, despite their cultural differences. Esther falls for the man from Barbados though and almost loses herself. The play explores these characters' troubles and joys and how they connect, much like the shapes in a finely stitched quilt. Beautifully made 'Intimate apparel' is what holds many of these women together and provides hope in the end!

Come and enjoy feisty dialogue, ragtime music and see whether issues of race, class and sisterhood have changed for lonely women, and men too in the big city of immigrants.

The show is directed by Sukki Hofmeyr and runs from Fri 6, Sat 7 May at 19.30 and again from Tues 10 May – Sat 14 May at 19.30  in the Adam Small Auditorium, Theatre Complex in Stellenbosch. There is also a matinée on Sat 14 May at 14.00. Running time is approximately 1hr45 minutes and there will be a short interval.

Tickets are R80  and can be bought online at Quicket www.quicket.co.za or at the door (own risk if full). Please note that seating is limited to just over half capacity. No under- 12 age restriction. Patrons are kindly requested to wear masks. 

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