Curtain Call: Roommates, Regrets and Reinvention
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like if Dorothy and Blanche from The Golden Girls spent less time eating cheesecake and a lot more time getting into the types of exploits you’d expect from “Slippin’ Jimmy” in Better Call Saul?
OK, maybe not? Nonetheless, I give you Jen Silverman’s The Roommate.
Meet Sharon: a straight-laced woman in her 50s who lives in Iowa City, now “retired” (as she puts it) from her past marriage, leading the vanilla life one could expect based on those details. When she’s not repeatedly phoning her son in New York City to come visit her, she often just sits at home while the years slip by. When she finds herself in need of a roommate, she serendipitously gets paired up with Robyn, an eclectic, bohemian-type straight from the Bronx who’s sampled everything from slam poetry to pottery and is eager for a fresh start. Despite being around the same age, Robyn is the antithesis of Sharon’s life in Iowa, and Sharon can’t get enough.
Boxes, boundaries and infinite inquiries
As Robyn settles into her new living arrangements, with her multitude of boxes filled with strange vegetables and even stranger porcelain dolls (which may, or may not, be voodoo dolls), she soon becomes the focus of Sharon’s intense curiosity and constant questions.
But Robyn’s not all that eager to answer every probe sent her way, and we’re not entirely sure as to why that is. Yet…
Though there’s plenty of laughs throughout, this play isn’t all lightheartedness and jokes. The script does an excellent job of tackling heavier topics such as regret and loneliness, while offering a unique example of how it’s never too late to change your outlook on life and how you choose to live it. During its 2024 run on Broadway, the show earned Mia Farrow a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for her memorable portrayal of Sharon.
Local theatre, big talent
This particular production of The Roommate is the work of Actors Collaborative Toledo (ACT). With Victoria Zajac in the director’s chair, a graduate of both the California Institute of the Arts and the University of Toledo, the show is shepherded by her impressive and lengthy background in both stage and film. “This is my first time directing for ACT and it has been a blast!” Zajac said. “I’ve had the chance to reconnect with some incredible artists and meet some new collaborators. It makes me very excited for the current and future theatre community in this city.”
Portraying Sharon in The Roommate is Jennifer Nagy-Lake, no stranger to the local theatre scene with prior performances showcased in local productions such as Assholes and Aureoles, Eleemosynary, Hunting Cockroaches and Exhibition.
Taking on the role of Robyn is Thea Grabiec. In addition to her extensive experience working in film and television in Hollywood, her local acting credits include Barbara in Perfect Arrangement with Black Swamp Players, Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday and Annie in Apartment 3A (both with The Village Players).
Grabiec explains what drew her to this role: “For years, I played the femme fatales and ingenues in wigs and high heels but for the first time, I get to embrace and intertwine who I am offstage and use it to discover this particular character and reveal a different type of femininity for audiences. Robyn is not a typical female character found in most scripts so it’s nice to see diversity in both writing and presentation!”
With its mix of humor and self-discovery, this production offers Toledo audiences a chance to experience a modern day story that explores subjects that many of us face in our lifetime.