In The Roommate, playwright Jen Silverman starts with a time-tested formula of two people living together who are so different in personality that it’s an unlikely match from the start.
But while you may be thinking The Odd Couple, been there, done that, Silverman tosses in the added theme of secrets being revealed, secrets that as they are unveiled switch the balance of power between the midwestern Sharon and the New York City vegan Robyn.
The result is a modern-day comedy that centers on two middle-aged women, thrown together by each of their divorces.
Deborah Hope, recipient of the 2023 Houston Theater Award for Best Actress for her role as Violet in August: Osage County, plays Robyn, while Sara Gaston plays Sharon. Jessica Jaye directs.
“I love that it’s a two-hander with women of a certain age because you don’t get that a lot. I love that they’re fun and vibrant and alive. They’re not stereotypical. They’re funny without ever trying to be funny,” Hope says.
Her counterpart is Sara Gaston who plays Sharon and rents out a room to Robyn. The one act of about 90 minutes is set in small town Iowa. Each of them is not from Iowa but have come there searching for peace and quiet.
“Robyn is a former hippie and maybe she has kind of a sketchy past,” says Hope who declined to reveal too many specifics about the play given that its surprises are central to the plot.
“The way that Jen Silverman writes in the play, it’s written fragmented. It’s just the way their brains work,” Hope says. “ I start a sentence but then I finish the thought in another sentence. That’s challenging in a way although it’s the way real speech patterns go.”
Asked who The Roommate will appeal to, Hope responds:
“I think it’ll appeal to everybody. I think it’ll appeal to young people. You’re talking about women of a certain age but interesting women. So, I think young people will see it and just picture your mom or your grandmother in this situation. Certainly, women in this age group are going to thank God there’s a story out there about interesting women of a certain age. Men will like because it’s just fun and it’s very real. There’s some passages in there I’ve said certain things to people; I’ve reacted those certain ways so it’s very relatable.
‘They’re wonderfully written characters,” Hope says. “It’s just this really rich life. You get to a certain point in life and you think ‘this is the end.’ And it’s not the end till the end. We’re the slightly tarnished Golden Girls.”
Performances are scheduled for October 23 through November 22 at 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at The Gordy theater, 800 Rosine. For more information, call 713-527-0123 or visit stageshouston.com. $44-$79.
