The Roommate (Booth Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

What a pleasure to watch those two pros, Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone, at the top their respective games in Jen Silverman’s funny two-hander about Robyn, a hard-nosed lady from the Bronx with a mysterious past (that’s LuPone) who comes to room with Farrow’s uber-naive Iowa widow Sharon. 

There are abundant laughs as these two diverse personalities knock up against each other, and Sharon is continually shocked and awed by Robyn’s progressive ways; she’s (goodness!) gay and vegan for starters. But for all of the sitcom-like pleasure of the basic situation, there’s substance here, and the play has real poignancy as it progresses. It premiered at the 2015 Humana Festival in Louisville, and was produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2017.

Sensibly, the stars get their initial bows over with right at the start, and then return for their “real” entrances as the play proper begins unimpeded by audience applause. 

Farrow’s character may be the mousy one, at least at first, but there’s nothing lacking in her stage dynamism. She was last on Broadway in 2014 for a brief run of “Love Letters” with Brian Dennehy, and she was first-rate. Here, she has some wonderfully funny moments -- watch her Sharon take her first swallow of almond milk -- but also highly moving ones, and she, like LuPone, creates a solidly believable character despite plot improbabilities. 

The naive Sharon has what Robyn and we the audience clearly discern is a gay dress designer son living in Park Slope, and we shortly learn that more about Robyn’s familial connections, and her mysterious past. Both women know exactly how to play for laughs and then scale back for the dramatic moments. Farrow is particularly touching in the final scenes of the play.

I hesitate to say too much about the plot which runs without an interval in a single act for about one hour and 45 minutes. Better to experience each revelation when it comes. But it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that the two ladies do eventually bond in a most unexpected and. for Sharon at least, positive, way. 

Though Silverman’s plot is largely predictable, it’s the kind of predictability that tickles the funny bone and satisfies. 

All of this plays out on Bob Crowley’s very attractive airy open house set (no walls or ceiling). Natasha Katz’s character-defining costumes are spot on. Mikaal Sulaiman’s sound design is natural and clear. The evocative underscoring is by David Yazbek. And the whole is masterfully directed by that Jack O’Brien. 

(Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th Street; theroommatebway.com; through December 15)

Photo by Michael Murphy: (l.-r.) Patti LuPone & Mia Farrow

Print this post