Topanga Actors Company offers Love, Loss and What I Wore by two witty writers Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron (sadly, Nora is no longer with us) and based on the bestselling book written and illustrated by Ilene Beckerman. A number of the author’s illustrations are featured in the performance.
It’s a play about women, clothes and memory. It covers all the important subjects: mothers, prom dresses, mothers, buying bras, mothers, hating purses and why it is safe to wear black. It’s imbued with wit, wisdom, understanding, the inevitable losses that go with life, and yes, love. “Gingy” standing in for Beckerman takes us through decades of personal history and clothing. “Stephanie” remembers her contrasting prom dresses and partners. “Nora” reviews the tangled contents of her purse (“this is for women who hate their purses, who are bad at purses…”). Sad reminiscences follow happy ones, and sometimes the other way around. Actors play out roles that include teenage daughters and mothers scrapping over what’s permissible or not, or planning for a very special occasion, a wedding. But true to the play’s theme, audiences may discover wrinkles, for themselves, begging to be ironed.
Audiences of all ages and genders have loved the show ever since it was produced off-Broadway in 2009.
The cast of five is as follows (in a to z order): Zuri Alexander, Carmen Flood, Kamakshi Hart, Elizabeth Herron, and Jeanette Vigne.
Topanga Library, June 8 and 9, at 2 pm. Free admission, open seating/free library parking. Teenagers welcomed.
Bring your own experiences and reminiscences to a brief post-performance talk back. And when planning your afternoon please don’t forget that the library is next door to or across the road from an array of locally owned stores and cafes offering pre-performance lunches or post performance suppers.
