Cast of ATC's 'The Roommate' saves weak script

Recovering con artist Robyn is desperate to stay the path of the straight and narrow.

Only one of them will succeed in Jen Silverman's dramedy "The Roommate," on the Arizona Theatre Company stage through April 4.

Silverman's storyline is pretty thin: Robyn (Sara Gettlefinger) answers a "Roommate Wanted" ad from Sharon (Angela Pierce) and trades her fast-paced life of crime for the bucolic Midwest. When Sharon discovers Robyn's secret life of phone scams and cons — "Are you the Nigerians?" Sharon asks in one of the funniest lines of the play — she convinces her roomie to teach her the ropes.

So much for Robyn's reset; a simple phone scam turns into a bustling enterprise selling marijuana brownies to members of Sharon's "reading group." 

While Sharon blossoms into a self-confident, risk-taker — she confesses to Robyn that she stole cigarettes, a lighter and a watch from her balding optometrist date — Robyn realizes she is right back where she started.

"The Roommate" drags a bit in the first half as the two women get to know one another. Director Marsha Mason, in her third production with ATC, exploits those getting-to-know-you scenes by exaggerating the characters' insecurities. Pierce's Sharon is alternately desperate and nervous — she talks fast and seems almost frightened by Robyn's answers to questions about her life in the Bronx and being a "homosexual."

Gettlefinger's Robyn seems uncomfortable in her own skin, answering every question with a question and deflecting when Sharon asks if she can help her bring in her boxes from the porch.

But the show picks up in the second half when we see Sharon come into her own and shake off the insecurities from a lifetime of being told she was worthless.

We also see growth in Robyn, who seems to genuinely care about the direction her influence is taking Sharon. She can see Sharon heading down a path similar to the one that led Robyn to being estranged from her adult daughter.

Gettlefinger and Pierce had never met one another before they started rehearsals weeks ago, but their chemistry on stage was pretty terrific. Pierce's comic timing added belly-laughing humor to lines that could easily have fallen flat, while Gettlefinger provided dramatic nuance that added poignancy.

"The Roommate" is not a play that will have you shedding tears or overthinking unspoken themes of aging or loneliness, and its comedy sometimes falls flat. But Mason wisely shapes the play around Gettlefinger and Pierce's performances, which masks some of the script's shortfalls. 

"The Roommate" continues at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., through April 4 with performances at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and 3 p.m. Sundays, with a 2 p.m. show on Tuesday, March 31. Get tickets at atc.org.