"Intimate" Earns Rave in Times-Dispatch

The first Intimate Apparel review is in, and everything’s coming up roses. Susan Haubenstock’s assessment appears in this morning’s Times-Dispatch (Sunday, April 15), and it begins as follows: “What an excellent synergy of writing, acting, directing and design is Barksdale’s Intimate Apparel, the Lynn Nottage drama that played off-Broadway in 2004 and won the 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award. With director Steve Perigard at the helm, Nottage’s carefully plotted tale is realized with perfectly tuned sensibility.”

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know how excited we at Barksdale are about Intimate Apparel. We’re excited because Intimate Apparel is a beautiful new play by Lynn Nottage, a playwright who is now establishing her place in the top tier of favorite playwright lists all around the country. This production is a Central Virginia premiere, and the latest product of the Women’s Theatre Project we kicked off in 2001. Through this project, we commit to the production of at least one work by a woman playwright each season. Intimate Apparel is beautifully plotted and written with a real reverence for character and language. It has been a delight to produce.

We’re excited because we have been able to recruit an exceptional cast. “Adanma Onyedike’s Esther is beautifully realized, lacking in self-possession at first but growing through her difficulties to become very much herself,” says Haubenstock. “There are wonderful discoveries in the performances of Tawnya Pettiford-Wates as Mrs. Dickson, Jennifer Massey as Mrs. Van Buren, and Katrinah Carol Lewis as Mayme. Andy Nagraj is touching as Mr. Marks, and every move of Chris Lindsay’s George is charged with feeling.”

We’re excited to have the chance to again experience the organic power of Steve Perigard’s sensitive direction, the full-flavored beauty of Kim Parkin’s handsome scenic design, the magnificent period costumes created by Sue Griffin, and the spellbinding lighting of Lynne Hartman. Paul Deiss has written a wonderful rag that is performed by Katrinah and Ida (the name by which everyone knows Adanma). It sounds like Scott Joplin reborn. And, as always, Amanda Durst has created an entire world with her dialect direction.

We’re trying to live up to the standard we have set for ourselves, a standard that is appropriate for Central Virginia’s leading professional theatre. I think Intimate Apparel is representative of the artistic growth we seek. I’m proud of our production.















For the full review go to: Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Five Women" Leaves You Laughing at Triangle

Posted by Bruce Miller

There’s another fun show in town that you may want to see. It’s called Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and it’s produced by the Richmond Triangle Players. A large contingent of theatre types near and dear to Barksdale's heart (Brian Baez, Sherry Burgess, Jason Campbell, Dorothy Holland, David Janeski, Billy Christopher Maupin, Robyn O’Neill, Jeanie Rule, Janine Serresseque, Brad Tuggle, Aly Wepplo and I) went to cheer on our pals Noreen Barnes (director) and Monica Dionysiou, Stephanie Dray, Amanda Durst and Jenny Jones Hundley (cast) on their Opening Night. A good time was had by all.

Noreen Barnes did a beautiful job directing a script that is an early work by Alan Ball, who went on to write the screenplay for the Oscar-winning American Beauty and the much acclaimed HBO series, Six Feet Under. Under her steady hand, this early script rolls along from one laugh to the next. The cast is terrific. In addition to the wonderfully talented quartet of women mentioned above, Chandra Hopkins and Danny Devlin deliver enjoyable performances.

The five bridesmaid dresses by Leon Wiebers are all appropriately flouncy, and the plenteous laughs were balanced by a few dramatic turns that all worked well. Personally, I’ll never get enough of Stephanie Dray and Jenny Jones Hundley on stage, and they both have major roles in this show. It’s worth the price of admission just to hear a duet of their infectious laughs.

Triangle makes a huge contribution to Metro Richmond’s cultural life. If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be an American bridesmaid in the early 90s, this is the show for you. But move fast; it runs only through May 5.

--Bruce Miller