The Roommate

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Screen superstar Mia Farrow and Broadway legend Patti LuPone have returned to Broadway costarring in playwright Jen Silverman’s Broadway debut. Off Broadway theatergoers have seen Silverman’s plays The Moors at the Duke on 42^nd Street, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties at the Lucille Lortel, and most recently Spain at The Second Stage Theatre. However, The Roommate which premiered at the Humana Festival in Louisville in 2015 and has been seen around the country at Williamstown, Sarasota, San Francisco, The Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, and at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company has not previously been staged in New York.

Of course, with Farrow and LuPone under the direction of six-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, this is an occasion for cheering although this comedy drama, a cross between a female version of The Odd Couple and Breaking Bad is both predictable and razor thin. However, it is also a scenario for two consummate actresses to strut their stuff. The roles are not a great stretch for either of them – Farrow has often played grown-up waifs and LuPone has often been seen in recent years as a New York sophisticate, but these are the kind of performers that hold your attention at all times, making you afraid to look away and miss anything.

Farrow plays Sharon, a 65-year-old Iowa City divorcée who is lonely in her large home (her son now living in Brooklyn never visits) and having trouble making ends meet. She has advertised for a roommate and accepted Robyn who she has not interviewed very thoroughly. Robyn turns out to be a worldly New Yorker, a lesbian, a potter, a vegan, a divorcée, a smoker, a drug dealer – and a scam artist. She is obviously on the run from someone or something. Like Sharon, she has a child who does not want to see her back in New York. This will all require a great deal of adjustment from the more sheltered Sharon.

Nevertheless, Robyn has seen everything and done everything while Sharon who has been brought up to always say no, is both inexperienced and naïve. She has never dated anyone other than her husband, doesn’t recognize a marijuana plant, and whose only outing is a monthly book club. Starting as opposites they find that they have much in common, and then Sharon becomes curious about Robyn’s earlier life that she has put behind her. Robyn introduces Sharon to the pleasures of smoking pot and internet dating. Eventually, Sharon takes the lead in their adventures, crossing several lines. The ending is poignant but both women will never be the same again.

Nevertheless, Robyn has seen everything and done everything while Sharon who has been brought up to always say no, is both inexperienced and naïve. She has never dated anyone other than her husband, doesn’t recognize a marijuana plant, and whose only outing is a monthly book club. Starting as opposites they find that they have much in common, and then Sharon becomes curious about Robyn’s earlier life that she has put behind her. Robyn introduces Sharon to the pleasures of smoking pot and internet dating. Eventually, Sharon takes the lead in their adventures, crossing several lines. The ending is poignant but both women will never be the same again.

The roles are being played as somewhat older than in previous productions but as much of the play seems dated as having been written more than ten years ago this works to its advantage. (The program inexplicably states that the time is now: there is too much reliance on a landline rather than a smart phone and even living in Iowa, would Sharon be quite as naïve as she is with national television and cable bringing in the rest of the world?)

Farrow and LuPone play obvious opposites but that is the source of much of the comedy. Dressed in black leather (by designer Bob Crowley) and sporting dark sunglasses when she first arrives at Sharon’s Iowa City house, LuPone is acerbic, peremptory, sarcastic, reserved and urbane. Her lips curve upwards in a near sneer as she can’t fathom how little her landlady knows about modern life even though she says she is 65 years old. Her very stance suggests she is hiding something or on the run.

Farrow’s Sharon, on the other hand, is unworldly about sex, vegan diets, drugs, exotic vegetables, music, the internet, and scams. Watching her obvious joy as new worlds are opened up to her is one of the delights of the play. Dressed in jeans and sweaters with oversized glasses, Farrow could be a little girl confronted with life for the first time. Both actresses have the kind of perfect timing that gets laughs out of lines that aren’t necessarily funny but in their hands become hilarious. Each actress suggests entire pasts that go unexpressed. O’Brien’s direction does not miss a trick as to the life of two opposites trying to live side by side but with many secrets.

Crowley’s set is a huge, nearly empty kitchen with transparent walls that allow for the various skyscapes in the naturalistic lighting by Natasha Katz. The wig and hair design by Robert Pickens and Katie Gell puts Farrow in braids which emphasize the little child aspect to Sharon’s personality. Silverman whose general theme is the empowerment of women in both their plays and novels has been given a bounty in having two such accomplished and gifted actresses for their Broadway debut.

The Roommate (through December 15, 2024)

Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or visit http://www.theroommatebway.com

Running time: one hour and 45 minutes without an intermission