When Robyn (Patti LuPone) first appears at Sharon’s (Mia Farrow) Iowa house in Broadway play The Roommate (Booth Theatre, to Dec. 15), she seems nervous, looking over her shoulder, as if someone or something is in her tail. What is she so wary of? Or is she casing the joint? Whatever, her coiled demeanor is compelling—initially at least.
Jen Silverman’s play, directed by Jack O’Brien, toys with audience expectations, especially with the anticipated delight of two such major stars playing opposite one another. Robyn, all in black and from the Bronx, is initially what you might expect—tough-talking, no-BS, and very over being in Iowa, at Sharon’s light, airy house (stage design is by Bob Crowley). In contrast, Sharon is dressed slightly eccentric boho; on first sight they are a study in hard and soft contrasts—and one assumes the comedy or drama that will unfold will be a culture clash, that they will be just another Odd Couple.
Both women are at junctions, with children who are unseen but significant presences. Sharon doesn’t know what a goya is (“It’s a vegetable. A bitter gourd”), on discovering Robyn is gay she says the clunking, “I don’t have any problem with homosexuals.” The play is oddly fixated on sexuality, but without anything fresh to say about it. Robyn’s lesbianism is a convenient plot device for the oldest trope in the book—when straight woman Sharon decides to take a brief, totally predictable trip to Gay-ville.
