Ridgewood Woman Directing Play in Fair Lawn

There’s something different about this gig for Amy Sellars. The director has few complexities to work out in the set design; the costumes, though clothes are essential to the plot, are simple.

“You could do this play with the lights off and still fall in love with it,” she says.

The Ridgewood resident will debut the Raburn Players’ production of Nora Ephron’s “Love, Loss and What I Wore” on Friday night, a series of monologues relating the stories of five female characters through the clothes associated with their experiences.

A longtime actress, costumer and director, it will be Sellars’ first time at the helm of a production with the community theater group. And the play, with its emphasis on monologue, allowed the director to bring her acting experience into two months of preparation that focused on developing the characters' tales into universally relatable experiences.

“I fell in love with [the play] when I was watching people read during auditions,” she says. “The characters are so personal that you can really empathize and relate to what they’re going through.”

The play is a comedy with heavier moments, reflecting both lighthearted experiences like selecting a prom dress and the agonizing story of a woman who gave up skirts after being victim to rape.

“The more substantial stories have a strong emotional component, affirming the painful or sustaining resonance that a dress or a pair of shoes can assume at pivotal moments in women’s lives,” the New York Times wrote of its premier in 2009.

“I’m not a fashion person at all,” Sellars laughs. “I liked this because I think the idea of the clothes creates conversation afterward. Whatever your story is, you can find something you can connect with.”

Sellars’ personal touch to the visuals of the production features projections of pictures from the original book written by Ilene Beckerman, as well as snapshots from the personal wardrobes of the eight cast members.

But beyond the staging of the production, she says, the focus remains on the talent of the cast and their work to bring the stories sharply into an emotionally relatable experience.

“When I find a piece that really speaks to me,” Sellars says, “it’s always about character.”

The Raburn Players, based in Fair Lawn, are one of the oldest community theater groups in the state, founded in 1930 and performing at the Grange Hall at 29-20 Fair Lawn Avenue.

“Love, Loss and What I Wore” plays Nov. 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23 at 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. showing Sunday, Nov. 17. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for members and $12 for students and seniors.