An intimate conversation with LCC theater director Mary Job

Mary Job, an adjunct associate professor at Lansing Community College, has been directing local plays since 1995 and is showing no signs of letting up.

“Because I love it,” Mary Job, 70, said. “I love communicating through a play to an audience. It’s like saying, ‘This is what I think.’” 

The last play Job directed was “Belle Moral” in November 2019. Now she is returning to LCC’s Dart Auditorium for Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel.” That adds up to about 50 plays Job has helmed.

“It is so good to be directing in-person again,” she said. “I have really missed the intimacy that is established by working together to put together a play.”

What excites her the most about the production is the way “Intimate Apparel” portrays its female characters and the relationships between them. “They’re diverse in terms of social class, occupation, personality and race,” she said. “Yet they’re all bound by the conventions of male dominance — right down to the apparel they wear.”

Job understands how “Intimate Apparel” — a play about a Black woman’s unique experience — is no easy task for a white woman to direct. “You must be aware of your own limitations,” she said. “As a woman, I have an entre into the play but it’s far from complete.”

“I haven’t lived it and I have to lean on the lived experiences of my cast to really flesh out the nuances,” she added. “And that’s a good thing.”  

Job will always remember how generous the cast was and how forthright they were with their insights. She was also impressed how willing they were to dig into the script and bring their characters to life.

The play is about a Black seamstress who lives in a boarding house for women who sew intimate apparel for wealthy, rich white ladies and Black prostitutes. It’s a story about connections, intimacy and betrayal. Anna Hill plays the seamstress, Esther. The LCC cast is predominately Black. Job said it took a lot of outreach to recruit the players.

“Intimate Apparel” includes detailed costumes appropriate for its early 20th century setting. “We have the elaborate skirts and dresses of the early 20th century, right down to the spectacular corsets of that period,” Job said. LCC’s resident costumer, Chelle Peterson, designed them.

Since the 2020 coronavirus pandemic shutdown, the “Intimate Apparel” production marks LCC’s return to a full set and props. Ranae Selmeyer from Michigan State University designed bedrooms for each character and a depiction of a Panama locale. “The set gives you the feeling of the early 20th century and the personality of each of the characters,” Job said.

Job certainly doesn’t want to return to another shutdown where she must find ways to busy herself. “I can only paint so many rooms, sew so many things. I’m not a restful person,” she said.

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