Discussion prompts for Intimate Apparel:
Question #1
What did you notice? What about the play was interesting, strange, revealing, or meaningful for you? Be specific.
Question #2
What values are being represented in this dramatic world? Discuss two values and to what group/groups these values are attached. Give at least two specific examples from the play of how each value is expressed/represented. What does this suggest about the play as a whole?
If “values” ends up being a difficult word to tangle with, try replacing it with perspectives, priorities, or concerns.
Question #3 (Read with a pencil)
For this prompt, choose something that you circled while reading the play that you didn’t completely understand and do some additional research — this might mean looking up the meaning of a word, or googling an unfamiliar reference — and then discuss your findings.
Armed with this new information how have you been able to put what was at first difficult to understand into context? What connections exist between this new information and other details of the world of the play?
Question #4 (Issue of diversity)
Think of the three “R’s” from the lecture that describes theatre’s relationship with identity politics: reinforce, resist, and reinvent. The Minstrel Show, blackface performance, and characters like Mammy and Uncle Tom reinforced stereotypes of African Americans.
What is the relationship of Nottage’s Intimate Apparel to the representation the African American experience?
Does this play reinforce, resists, or reinvent our understanding of the African American experience? Does this play reinforce, resists, or reinvent stereotypes of African Americans? To answer this, consider the depiction of Esther and what you think Lynn Nottage’s purpose of writing this play might be.
Question #5
Do stereotypes of African Americans and other groups still exist today? What perpetuates stereotypes? What helps overcome them? Support your answer with specific examples.
Question #6
Ask two of your own questions about the play. This is your opportunity to find out what someone else thinks about an aspect of the play that you found particularly interesting, confusing, or challenging. You cannot repeat any question that is part of this list of discussion prompts.