The Roommate tells us "Being bad never felt so good." Uh oh. In this production, it just isn't really true. We came, as I think most of the audience had, to experience two splendid actresses working together. Mia Farrow is shy, quiet, and inexperienced Sharon. Patti LuPone is Robyn, the loud, angry woman who arrives to share the big empty house where Sharon lives. If you can't figure out most of what follows next, you have sat at home too long.
At first, Sharon finds Robyn way too liberal. She smokes both cigarettes and pot, and as Robyn unspools her scams to make money, Sharon is both horrified and titillated. But then, she stops to think “hey, I could do that.” What the two women really have in common is the fact that they are both mothers with a child who seems nearly unreachable. Sharon has smothered her son, who yearns to break free. Robyn's daughter does call her, but Robyn has so many aliases on so many licenses, she asks for someone Sharon doesn't recognize. Robyn has many regrets; Sharon has such a need to break out. Something's got to give.
If anybody can logically explain the ending to me, I'd love to hear it. Meanwhile, here's an idea: have Mia and Patti switch roles. It's been done before, and I know these two radiant stars could make it work brilliantly. So come on, switch roles and make that nutty idea into something really interesting.
