It’s never too late to completely re-route your life, according to “The Roommate,” the Kaua‘i Community Players show that began staging last week.
The two-women play, written by Jen Silverman and directed by Faith Harding, features Sharon (Gaylen Worthen) and Robyn (Deborah Cecil), an unlikely pair of 50-something roommates who begin sharing an apartment in suburban Iowa.
Sharon, a newly divorced, book-club-attending empty nester, is enthralled by the worldly Robyn, a lesbian former slam poet from the Bronx with a checkered past.
As Sharon — described as “very nosy and very persistent” — learns more about her roommate, she is inspired to live life more on the edge. Robyn, on the other hand, “a malleable and changeable template,” has moved to the Midwest to try to escape her own demons.
The mismatched pair build a friendship, a business partnership of questionable legality, and maybe something more, as they strive to reinvent themselves later in life.
Worthen’s high-energy portrayal of Sharon provides a fun contrast with Cecil’s chill, understated Robyn.
Both actresses are recent returnees to the theater world, with Cecil doing her first show in 10 years. Worthen did theater in college and made a return to the stage after a 25-year hiatus at the last Kaua‘i Community Players production, “Mama Won’t Fly.”
“What an honor to be a part of this,” said Worthen.
“There are parts that any person can relate to and can draw from their lives. We certainly have felt the emotion of being displaced, of things changing.”
“People go through difficult times and things don’t work out like they want them to, and you have to pick yourself up and start over,” said Cecil.
While the show is full of laugh lines, the score, chosen by Harding, underscores a melancholy that reveals itself as the piece goes along.
“I feel completely in gratitude that these two women created such an organic chemistry with each other,” said Harding, who said that she sees herself in both characters. “I couldn’t ask for a better cast and crew.”
The theme of re-invention resonated with Harding, who has directed three shows with KCP previously.
“You don’t have to be the same person that people expect you to be your whole life,” said Harding. “This gives people a window to see characters for middle-aged women other than ‘mother’ or ‘crazy woman.’ They embody women that are powerful, not afraid, bold. To me, that’s everything.”
The show will runs now through April 17, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse, 4411 Kikowaena St. near the Grove Farm headquarters building.
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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
