In the play Intimate Apparel written by Lynn Nottage takes place in 1905. the protagonist Esther a African-American seamstress who lives in a boarding house for women and sews intimate apparel for women clients from different social class, from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. Esther’s dream is to open a beauty parlor for African American women who will be treated as royally as the white women she sews for. And to find the right man she could spend her life with. Esther began to receive letters from a man named George who is working on the Panama Canal. Being illiterate shows how Esther never had an education because she started working at a very young age. so she had Mrs. Van Buren and Mayme to respond. Time has passed and becomes more and more intimate. George persuaded her to get marry. But Esther cannot because she feels affection toward Mr. Marks the shopkeeper but its complicated, because of his religion. Esther agreed to marry George. When George arrived to New York he turned out not to be the man to be in the letters, and he took away with Esther’s savings and spend it on whores and liquor. Esther Deeply wounded by the betrayal. Esther returns to the boarding house determined to use her skills, gifted hands and her sewing machine to refashion her dreams and make them a new from her life’s experiences.
Lynn Nottage wrote the whole play with special details where we could actually visually see the scenes. started from a room in the and the direction of each character in the stage. Nottage’s play depict a similar world for women because even today women are still being betray and miss treated when they deserve more for being hard workers. But the also come out more determine to keep on their dream.
