The Cerritos College Theater Department will present “Intimate Apparel” by Lynn Nottage starting March 6 at 8 p.m.
It is directed by Kevin Hoggard and will play at the Burnight Center in BC-31.
Tickets are $12 for general admission, $10 for Cerritos College students and $8 for ages 5 to 12.
Other performance dates include: March 7, 12, 13, and 14 at 8 p.m. as well as March 15 at 2 p.m.
The play takes place in Manhattan, 1905 where Esther, an African-American seamstress, makes an uncommon living creating exquisite lingerie for women of wealth and prostitutes alike.
“Esther is in her mid-thirties and isn’t married which was not exactly normal at the time,” said Carmen Prince, a sign language interpreter and the actress for Mayme.
As Tyler Tingley, stage manager, indicates, Esther keeps in contact with a laborer from Panama.
Since Esther is illiterate, she must rely on the help from her friends Ms. Van Buren, a high class lady, and Mayme, a prostitute, to write love letters to her distant lover.
Esther soon finds that she is turning away from her old life for a man she barely knows, who will eventually reveal his true colors later on.
“The play is very intense due to all the drama, very well written, with a few comedic elements,” Prince expressed.
“The show is very relatable. It’s about intimacy. Esther tries so hard to get what she wants but she has to give up her dreams to get it,” Tingley said.
“We all know that to love is to feel pain. I think most of us would agree with Esther when she says, “I’d give up this quilt and everything in it to be with someone I care for, I would.’ But as the play illustrates, it is never as simple as that,” Hoggard reveals.
Tingley further shared that the design of the set is set in three different angles which gives an audience a more intimate view of the play.
Also, he and Prince said that the actors had to study their scripts since winter break and practice the first week of the semester.
“We had to jump in right away and we quickly had to get into character,” Prince said.
“The acting is very well done. Most of them have done shows before and the two newest actors have improved greatly overtime. This is going to be a really good show,” Tingley said.
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