Theater review: 'The Roommate'

“The Roommate” has moved in at Florida Studio Theatre. At first glance, it seems like a cutesy, high-concept play: a free spirited rebel moves into a divorced woman’s empty nest. Sparks fly, growth ensues, so it goes. You think you’ve seen it before. But Jen Silverman’s play is more than a female version of “The Odd Couple.” The reason is simple…

 Silverman takes the premise seriously. And follow it through to the non-cutesy consequence it would probably have in real life. Her play starts out as pure comedy. But that’s how she gets you off-guard. (Minor spoilers will ensue after this point. If I didn’t warn you, that’d be a bad thing.)

55-year-old Sharon (Jo Twiss) lives all alone in a big empty house in Iowa. Her husband recently divorced her; her son moved to New York City and keeps her at arm’s length. So, Sharon figures a roommate will fill the void. The slightly younger Robyn (Rita Rehn) answers her ad—bringing a pile of boxes (including one full of arcane Columbian statues) along with her. Sharon’s a straight arrow; Robyn’s a bad girl bohemian from the Bronx. Sharon’ chatty and full of questions; Robyn brushes them aside. She keeps her mysterious past to herself—which only inflames Sharon’s curiosity. What’s Robyn running away from? Gradually, the truth comes out. Sharon finds out exactly how bad her roommate’s been—and wants to follow in Robyn’s pot-growing, credit card-scamming footsteps. But she only gets so far.

The actors deliver strong performances that evoke their characters’ tentative rapport. Twiss’ Sharon is a lonely, drifting satellite pulled into Robyn’s orbit. Her character once defined herself as a wife and a mother. Now she’s alone and feels like a nobody. Her Sharon is a talky, nervous tentative character eager for somebody, anybody, to tell her who she is now—and the new roommate fits the bill. Hey, being good got me nowhere. Why not try being bad? Rehn’s rule-breaking Robyn is naturally charismatic. She’s not trying to tempt Sharon: it just works out that way. But Robyn has an estranged daughter of her own. To save that relationship, she promised to give up the grifter’s life. Now Sharon’s dragging her back into it—and Robyn doesn’t waste time making a hard choice. Rehn subtly conveys the wheels turning in her character’s mind before she does.

Jen Silverman’s play subverts convention and defies expectation. Director Gavin Cameron-Webb does, too. He deftly pulls the rug out from under you. You think it’s a wacky play about the bond between two opposites. Halfway through, you realize it’s a play about personal transformation. And the limitations thereof.

People, if they’re doing their job, keep growing while they’re still breathing. To speed the process, people often look to other people to set them free. With the exception of the occasional saint, most people are lousy at the job.

As bad as she is, Robyn knows she’s no saint.