Intimate Apparel is a play by Columbia University Professor of Playwrighting Lynn Nottage. The play is set in 1905 and it tells the story of Esther, a young African American woman who travels to New York City with dreams of becoming a seamstress, and of becoming independent. The play is based on the real-life experiences of Nottage's great grandmother.
The play was commissioned jointly by Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland, and South Coast Repertory In Costa Mesa, California; both companies co-produced the play which made its debut on February 21, 2003, at Center Stage, with Viola Davis in the role of Esther. It was a role for which Davis received much acclaim and was also highly decorated, winning the Drama Desk Award in 2004 in the Outstanding Actress in a Play category. Cast mate Corey Stoll was nominated for Outstanding Featured Actor.
Intimate Apparel was Nottage's sixth play, but remains one of her best known, and it is also one of the most produced plays in America. She penned her first play, The Darker Side of Verona, whilst still in high school. Nottage is the only woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice; the first time, for Ruined, in 2009, and the second for Sweat in 2017.
Intimate Apparel was commissioned to be adapted into an opera by the MET/Lincoln Center, with Ricky Ian Gordon as the composer.
