Intimate Apparel is a play written by Lynn Nottage. The play is a co-production and co-commission between Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland, and South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California. The play is set in New York City in 1905 and concerns a young African-American woman who travels to New York to pursue her dreams, becoming an independent woman as a seamstress.
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The play had its world premiere at Center Stage on February 2, 2003. Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the cast featured Shane Williams (Esther), Brenda Pressley (Mrs. Dickson), Kevin Jackson (George Armstrong) and Sue Cremin (Mrs. VanBuren). It next ran at the South Coast Repertory from April 11, 2003 through May 18, 2003 diected by Whoriskey and with the same Center Stage cast.[1]
The play made its New York debut off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre, running from March 17, 2004 to June 6, 2004. Directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, it featured Viola Davis (Esther), Lynda Gravatt (Mrs. Dickson), and Corey Stoll (Mr. Marks).[2]
It ran at several regional theaters, including the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles from July 27-September 12, 2004,[2] the Southern Repertory Theatre in New Orleans, Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago (January 2005), and City Theatre in Pittsburgh (May 2007).[3][4]
The play won the 2004 Steinberg New Play Award, presented by The American Theatre Critics Association to "outstanding new plays produced around the United States, outside of New York City".[5]