'The Roommate' opens Humana Festival with laughs

• Roommate 1%3A Robyn from the Bronx smokes and has a mysterious box of ceramic statues.
• Roommate 2%3A Sharon%2C a resident of Iowa%2C has a son in Brooklyn and is a bit bored with her life.
• Sharon is intrigued rather than appalled by details of Robyn%27s troubled past.

At the outset of Jen Silverman's new play "The Roommate," much of what stands to be revealed is the past of a mysterious woman named Robyn who has picked up and moved to Iowa City from New York's Bronx to share the home with 55-year-old divorced Sharon.

But appearances can be deceiving in "The Roommate," which premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays Friday night as the first play of the festival. The production is directed by Mike Donahue and continues through April 12..

Silverman's script uses Sharon's curious and confessional nature to draw the audience in. Sharon struggles to connect with Robyn, who smokes, has a mysterious box of ceramic statues and deftly deflects most of Sharon's many questions about her personal life.

"What do you do?" Sharon asks Robyn not long after she arrives.

"I do a lot of things," Robyn answers.

Sharon, played by Margaret Daly, easily reveals she has a somewhat estranged son in Brooklyn and is originally from Illinois, not Iowa. She also has a strong curiosity that drives her to persistently try to discover more about Robyn, played by Tasha Lawrence. Eventually Sharon's inquisitiveness leads her to take another tack in which she spouts off statements in an effort to align herself with her roommate.

"I think everyone wants to start over," Sharon declares at one point.

There are small revelations that Silverman sneaks into scenes throughout the script that slowly expose more about both women, particularly about the seemingly simple Sharon. That set-up gives rise to reflective and hilarious moments that make "The Roommate" a warm and wonderful story that explores how a person's ideas about herself can be limiting but, under certain circumstances, can change in a short period of time and alter the tragectory of one's life.

Soon enough, Robyn shares with Sharon some details of her troubled past. But instead of being appalled by it, Sharon is intrigued. Without giving away the story, suffice it to say that Robyn becomes uneasy as Sharon finds the change she undergoes exhilarating.

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The two-woman cast is impressive, and Daly and Lawrence give performances that have weight and tenderness and create a strong chemistry between the two characters. Daly as Sharon is capable of drawing the viewer exceedingly into her character's world. Although, Daly's Sharon exhibits a laughable naiveté, she also is incredibly endearing. Donahue's direction helps keep the story moving very swiftly, but comfortably, along. He has the actors themselves change set pieces and props between scenes, which helps. He and the actors have formed two distinct characters that audiences should be able to understand and recognize in themselves or people they know.

The production of Jen Silverman's "The Roommate" continues through April 12 as part of Actors Theatre of Louisville's 39th Humana Festival of New American Plays. Performances are in the Bingham Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville, 316 W. Main St. Tickets are $35 to $59. For more information, call (502) 584-1205 or visit actorstheatre.org.

Reporter Elizabeth Kramer can be reached at (502) 582-4682. Follow her on Twitter at @arts_bureau.