“The Roommate”

Highly Recommended **** Walking into almost any production on the stage of Steppenwolf Theatre that has a set resembling a residence, makes many audience members jealous. The kitchen ( designed by John Iacovelli) in the current “The Roommate” is one of those sets! This is where all the action takes place in this two character , 90 minute play written by Jen Silverman, and directed to perfection by Phylicia Rashad. What makes this production even more sparkling is the ladies who bring these two characters from paper to life, Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez. Can a playwright and director ask for a better twosome than this? I think not!

The story takes place in Iowa. Sharon ( Marquez) is an Illinois transplantee to Iowa, who has raised a son and is fairly social in the community, has retired from her marriage and is up for a roommate. The woman who becomes the roommate is Robyn ( Jones) who is from the Bronx and is about as opposite from Sharon as one can expect. Sharon means well as she tries to learn more about her new roomie, and during the initial questioning, she finds that her new roomie is not possibly a fit.

They proceed to get to know each other in this laugh-filled battle of survival between two ladies who find things from each other that bring a spark to  their own existence. Robyn has greater influence on the shy and quiet Sharon, and since I do not like to give a lot away when a play is filled with wonderous surprises, I can only tell you that Robyn is far from what she appears to be. Meanwhile, Sharon has no problem adjusting to the lifestyle that Robyn’s past experiences will now create for her and even her “book club ladies”.

The story is about these two ladies who as I said are very different from each other, but find during their cohabitation answers to some of the questions they have felt in their lives. For me the conversations between these two actresses and the shot-gun responses made the 90 minutes move much quicker. These two ladies are a delight to watch and the characters that Silverman has written pure magic. They are warm, they are funny, they are possibly real people who are forced to overcome some of their earlier choices to find a direction for the years of being alone, without kids.

By the way, there are kids, mentioned with the exception of Sharon’s son, who we hear on a taped message (Gabriel Ruiz, does the voice-over) and sounds as real as a son might sound. The costumes (Samantha C. Jones) and the sound ( Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen) as well as the lighting (Xavier Pierce) made for a solid production. The play is done in many scenes, some as short as 4 minutes and others as long as 15, but the time between is just to set a tone. There are discussions after each performance. Robyn teaches Sharon things that are unbelievable, but very comical.

“The Roommates” will continue at Steppenwolf Theatre’s Downstairs Theatre located at 1650 N. Halsted Street thru August 5th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays  3 p.m.   0n 7/22 also 7:30 p.m.

Tickets range in price from $20- $93 and can be purchased at the box office, by phone at 312-335-1650 or online at www.steppenwolf.org

ACCESSIBILITY performances are available- check website for more details

Valet parking and garage parking is available

to see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Roommate”