'The Roommate' review — Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone are conniving companions
Read our review of The Roommate on Broadway, a comedy play written by Jen Silverman and starring Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone at the Booth Theatre.
Though the names of iconic actresses Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone both appear on The Roommate’s marquee, the show belongs to Mia Farrow. Farrow shines with a soft-spoken shyness belying darkness and desperation as the unsuspecting Sharon, a woman who takes in a mysterious roommate, Robyn, following a divorce. The character’s need for social connection doesn’t just stem from empty-nest syndrome, but from a nebulous loss of identity. As she says near the end of the play, spiraling out of control, labels like wife and mother no longer fit her. “Roommate,” however, is a “good word.”
If LuPone is somewhat more held back in her performance, it may partially come from playwright Jen Silverman’s characterization of the no-nonsense Robyn: She reveals her clues gradually, indulging Sharon’s needling without giving away too many incriminating details (at first). Perhaps the Robyn who has fled New York for Iowa no longer cares for her own welfare, but only that she will drive Sharon to a point of no return.
Yet there is something reserved in LuPone’s performance that cannot be chalked up to the character’s unexplained breaking point or the lack of closure in her relationship with her daughter. LuPone knows she can get a laugh from just the quirk of an eyebrow or her delivery of any line, even somber ones. She is engaged with the audience, but not deeply with the character. It’s a performance that suggests LuPone knows she can do whatever she wants and succeed.
The Roommate summary
When Sharon (Farrow) welcomes a roommate to her Iowa City home, she doesn’t expect Robyn (LuPone) to be a vegan, lesbian, marijuana-growing artist with an estranged daughter, a shady past, and a stack of driver’s licenses with different names. Sharon insists she’s content with her life, even after her husband “retired” from their marriage, but spends most of her time trying to get in touch with her adult son in New York City at all hours.
When Robyn reveals that her many identities stem from elaborate scams she and her daughter pulled off, including car theft and credit card trickery, Sharon jumps at the chance to join in and prove herself a worthy accomplice.
What to expect at The Roommate
The Roommate runs approximately 100 minutes without an intermission. The show has one brief sequence of flashing lights from designer Natasha Katz, imitating lightning. On stage, characters light and smoke prop cigarettes and marijuana. Additionally, The Roommate contains discussions of divorce, identity theft, estranged families, drug use, and the physical abuse of a child.
What audiences are saying about The Roommate
The Roommate has an audience approval rating of 82% on the review aggregator Show-Score.
- Show-Score user Robert 7281 described the play’s plot as “borderline silly” but recommended the show for Farrow and LuPone’s performances.
- Another Show-Score user called Farrow’s performance “pitch-perfect” but said that LuPone may be miscast.
- Show-Score user Alison 7003 likened The Roommate to a "sophisticated sitcom."
Read more audience reviews of The Roommate on Show-Score.
Who should see The Roommate
- Fans of playwright Jen Silverman, who also wrote the theatre industry-set novel We Play Ourselves, will appreciate their take on middle-aged women rediscovering their (somewhat misguided) passions.
- The most obvious draw to The Roommate is its stars: Whether you love Mia Farrow for Rosemary’s Baby or for her candor and bravery in the #MeToo movement, you’ll love her turn as the meddlesome Sharon.
- Likewise, fans of Patti LuPone’s bravada can expect nothing less from Robyn.
Learn more about The Roommate on Broadway
Although director Jack O’Brien’s production features too many prolonged scene transitions and the end of Silverman’s script is a tad self-indulgent, Farrow’s quietly captivating performance makes The Roommate worth the stay.
Photo credit: Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone in The Roommate on Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy)
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