Sharon’s never had a roommate before. In fact, there’s a lot Sharon’s never done before, but Robyn’s about to change all that. Jen Silverman’s The Roommate shatters expectations with its witty and profound portrait of a blossoming intimacy between two women from vastly different backgrounds, as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality, and the promise of reinvention. Being bad never felt so good as it does in this riveting one-act about second acts.
Directed with his usual finesse by Jack O’ Brien and beautifully designed by Bob Crowley (who has created a spacious, airy Midwest farmhouse) and lit gorgeously by Natasha Katz, the play serves mostly as a showcase for the spectacular Mia Farrow (in a long-awaited return to the stage) and her real-life bestie, Patti LuPone, each of whom do their considerable best to both illuminate and overcome Silverman’s often facile writing.
This kind of surface-level engagement is all The Roommate can really withstand. Farrow and LuPone are fun to watch — especially Farrow, whose church-mouse character gradually blossoms with the demurely unhinged glee of a midwestern Mephistopheles — and Silverman has written a good number of funny things for them to say. Their chemistry is spicy and real, and there’s nothing wrong with having a straight-up good time. The trouble is that there’s something weird and sour going on in Silverman’s play that precludes uncomplicated enjoyment of its comedy but never quite touches anything really profound. Beneath its veneer, The Roommate is in an on-again, off-again relationship with its own conscience. It doesn’t know quite what it wants to do or say, or, crucially, exactly how bad it wants to break.
2017 | Williamstown, MA (Regional) |
Original Production at Williamstown Theatre Festival Williamstown, MA (Regional) |
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Videos