Intimate Apparel

Seattle Rep is bringing Intimate Apparel to the Leo K. Theater this winter, with the production opening February 24 and running through March 21. It's a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, set in Manhattan in 1905. The story centers on Esther, a seamstress known for crafting exquisite undergarments, whose life becomes entangled with romance, race, class, and self-determination after a forbidden spark with a neighbor. It's the kind of piece that stays with you—an emotionally rich contemporary classic about the private lives people keep hidden behind the roles they play for the world.

Nottage is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and has built a reputation as one of the most important playwrights of her generation, and Intimate Apparel is one of her most celebrated works. Valerie Curtis-Newton directs, with Grace Nordhoff and Jonathan Beard as producing partners and additional artistic support from Emily M. Dexter. The cast is built around six roles: Esther (35, female-identifying, Black), Mrs. Dickson (50s, female-identifying, Black), Mrs. Van Buren (30s, female-identifying, White), Mr. Marks (30s, male-identifying, White), Mayme (30s, female-identifying, Black), and George (30s, male-identifying, Black).

Rehearsals begin January 15, and the show runs from February 24 through March 21 at the Leo K. Theater. If you've been following Nottage's work, this is a great chance to see one of her most acclaimed plays staged right here in Seattle.