Tanya Moodie is currently starring as Esther in Intimate Apparel which has transferred to the Park Theatre (Park200) following a run at the Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio.
Directed by Laurence Boswell, Intimate Apparel is Lynn Nottage’s best known play and the recipient of several awards including the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and John Gassner Award.
The play is set in 1905 in New York City where Esther, a black seamstress, sews exquisite lingerie for clients who range from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. She has saved enough to allow her to dream of one day opening a beauty salon for black women and, at 35 years old, longs for a husband and a future. She begins to receive beautiful letters from a lonesome Caribbean man who is working on the Panama Canal, it looks like life may be about to take a different course…
Tanya most recently received huge acclaim for her terrific performance as Rose in the West End production of Fences (Duchess) opposite Lenny Henry. Just a few of her other theatre credits include playing: Joan/Alice in The Chair Plays (Lyric Hammersmith), Ruth in Sixty-Six Books (Bush), Claire in Catch (Royal Court) and Linda in The Overwhelming (National) as well as Nora in A Doll's House and the title role in Medea (both West Yorkshire Playhouse).
I recently spoke to Tanya about how she initially struggled to connect with her latest role, what makes Lynn’s writing so successful and whether she was able to digest the incredible reaction to her performance in Fences…
Intimate Apparel is an extraordinary play, I’ve never seen anything like it. What were your first impressions when you read the script?
When I first received the script to read for the part I thought, ‘I don’t understand this at all.’ I couldn’t get my head around Esther’s journey, I couldn’t get my head around why it was called Intimate Apparel and I couldn’t get my head around her choices – it felt like I had opened the box of a jigsaw puzzle but had to make the picture myself. As you said, I had also never seen anything like it before. So then I read it again [laughs], thinking about the objectives and trying to piece everything together. For some reason I couldn’t connect on a subjective level with this woman, she seemed very alien.
So what happened when your audition came?
Well by this point I was on my third read of the play [laughs] – and I had done my homework but I didn’t know what I was going to say in the room. I went in and spoke to Lawrence (Boswell) and we looked at a particular monologue where Esther opens up about her past. Lawrence gave me a note and all of a sudden everything became entirely crystal and subjective, I jumped right into the body of Esther. He talked about intimacy being the theme of the play and where we look for and how we establish intimacy in a relationship. I assumed intimacy was something that just happened, but it’s not. Intimacy can happen at a bus stop, fully clothed with a stranger. It happens when you choose to open up your life in a certain way.
Lynn (Nottage) has won awards for her incredible writing. Can you put your finger on what makes her plays so fascinating?
I’ve only seen three of her plays and Intimate Apparel is the only one I’ve really delved into. I think a good writer can make the subjective universal. I’ve also seen Fabulation and Ruined – at the centre of all three plays there’s a black woman. I think it’s brilliant these plays have been done in the UK and have been so successful; people have connected and related to them.
And Intimate Apparel is a particularly personal play to Lynn…
It is, she’s taken the story of her great-grandparent and used her creative license to add in ‘Where do I come from? Where do I belong?’ I think we can all relate to that.
What can audiences expect? As you’ve mentioned it’s a tremendous emotional journey!
I loved doing the show in Bath before we transferred to the Park Theatre because it’s quite a small town and often I would be walking down the street before a performance and would be approached by people who had seen the show – which doesn’t happen in London so much! People just started opening up because Lynn’s writing is just… I mean even if we were going to cock up the acting [laughs], I still think the story and writing are exquisite! We get a lot of feedback during the show – we hear little mutters and deep breaths. It’s just incredible!
What’s the atmosphere like amongst the cast?
Well first of all we’re all absolutely knackered! We’ve been going to 1905, New York eight times a week and it’s a very emotional journey for everybody – nobody gets away easily in this show. It’s not a comedy but there are light, funny moments. It’s a human show and we all connect 100%. We all support each other and give each other little gifts – well all us girls do anyway; we all share a dressing room.
Finally I have to mention Fences in which you gave one of the most moving performances I have ever seen. What’s it like now to look back at that experience? The response was huge!
Thank you, that’s really nice! Looking back now at Rose and that time of my life I feel like something has shifted. When I was in it I don’t think I was wise enough to recognise the huge response. Because I’m a mum, I think my daughter was five going on six at the time, I immerse myself in my work and then I go home to kiss my daughter in bed and then get up the next morning to do the school run. I don’t know if I picked up on the excitement as much as I would have ten years ago!
Interviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
Intimate Apparel runs at the Park Theatre until Sunday 27th July 2014. Please visit www.parktheatre.co.uk for further information and tickets.
Photo Credit: Simon Annand
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