Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone contrast vividly in Jen Silverman’s breezy yet stealthy new comedy THE ROOMMATE

• By drediman
• September 14, 2024
• No Comments

On Broadway, the lost art of the comedy has been making somewhat of a comeback. On the heels of the smash summer hit Oh, Mary!, the Great White Way has welcomed yet another comedy in Jen Silverman’s The Roommate, which opened last week at the Booth Theater. Written as a vehicle for iconic actresses Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone — both now well into their 70s — Silverman’s new play tells the story of Robyn and Sharon, two fundamentally contrasting women of a certain age, and the unlikely friendship that emerges between them as they navigate getting to know each other in a remote house in Iowa (the clean set is by the great Bob Crowley).

Unlike Cole Escola’s laugh-fest just down 45th Street, Silverman’s two-hander has more sobering things on its mind. Beneath its tried-and-true Odd Couple set up, there’s an undercurrent of sadness — largely spouted by loneliness and grief — and real dramatic stakes for these two characters, both of whom find themselves all but discarded by the world (even their children seem to hold them at arms length). With each other, they find renewed purpose, as well as genuinely surprising ways of re-imprinting themselves onto the world. Indeed, Silverman has found a way of balancing — thanks in part to veteran director Jack O’Brien’s confident direction — breezy comedy and stealthy jabs of tough life truths.

Simply put, headliners Farrow and LuPone — who are friends in real life — are marvelous. Farrow is particularly enchanting and disarming, giving a rich comic performance that’s grounded in affecting humanity. It’s a finely-etched portrayal that grows richer and more surprising as the evening unfolds (no spoilers here). In the decidedly less central role, Patti LuPone is ideally cast as Robyn, putting her famous sassy, tough broad persona to good use, and proving how good of an actress she is when she’s not belting her face off. Although The Roommate is an observant and often very funny study in vivid contrast, the chemistry between these two legendary actresses is nothing less than palpable.

RECOMMENDED

THE ROOMMATE
Broadway, Play
Booth Theatre
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through December 15