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Review: Five Models in Ruins, 1981 Takes Its Best Shot
May 5, 2025, 10:38.42 pm ET

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Photo: Marc J. Franklin

By Brian Scott Lipton

While it might take some viewers a little time to realize the double meaning of the title of Caitlin Saylor Stephens’ new play, “Five Models in Ruins, 1981,” now premiering at Lincoln Center Theater under the focused direction of Morgan Green, other audience members may need to ruminate on this sharply funny and deeply disturbing play to understand it’s designed as both an over-the-top satire of the fashion industry and a damning exploration of a male-dominated culture (that still exists five decades later) that treats women as objects rather than people.

The show’s setting (cleverly created by Afsoon Pajoufar) is a run-down castle in the English countryside that has been chosen by veteran photographer Roberta (the aptly named Elizabeth Marvel) for a photoshoot for a potential “Vogue” cover. The conditions are a bit rough – poor electricity, no running water – but the concept is clever: each model will don a wedding dress designed for –but rejected by – the recently wed Princess Diana, including gowns created by such top-tier names as Givenchy, Ralph Lauren, and John Galliano. (The costumes are by Vasilja Zivanic).

While Roberta spends most of her time getting her set ready, the models are left to their own devices in the waiting area. There, frenemies Chrissy (the excellent Stella Everett), an All-American blonde beauty; Alex (a fine Britne Oldford), striking, smarter and perhaps more damaged than the rest; and Tatiana (a memorable Maia Novi), a feisty, surprisingly short, hot-tempered Eastern European, alternately bicker, physically fight, and reminisce.


Photo: Marc J. Franklin

Their compare-and-contrast conversations of who they slept with (a lot of men – with artist Jean-Paul Basquiat being on all their scorecards) may initially feel amusing, but one quickly realizes these women believe – or is it know – that their bodies are their main source of currency. Ditto their parlor game of “the worst shoot of my life,” in which each woman details the exploitative conditions under which she was made to – and agreed to -- work, and the disregard they felt from the (presumably male) photographer. As exaggerated these stories may sound, they are very likely true – or close to the truth – for many women who worked in this industry.

Further, the toll that all of these experiences – including surviving war and famine (for Tatiana), being deprived of food, and beginning to lose friends to the AIDS epidemic -- have taken on the young women’s psyches cannot be overlooked, no matter who many defensive walls they put up. Not yet 30, each woman already has a lifetime of trauma to overcome.

Perhaps sensing that these conversations are too much for fourth model Grace (the lovely Sarah Marie Rodriguez), who has never done a professional photo-shoot before, Roberta takes her onto the set and calmly teaches her about lighting and posing. Their “alone time” also provides (perhaps too conveniently) a chance for Roberta to unburden herself of one major truth: the assignment was given to her by her boss and soon-to-be ex-lover Ed as a weird sort of parting gift.

Indeed, as we learn once Roberta’s bestie, former model-turned cosmetician Sandy (a delightful Madelyn Wise) finally arrives, getting the perfect shot is not just a chance for Roberta to earn her first cover after 25 years in the business, it’s perhaps Roberta’s final chance to win back Ed’s heart, which she sees as even the bigger prize, her professional success being less important than her personal life.

Indeed, that revelation may lead audiences to see the show’s almost unforgettable final moments – which won’t be revealed here – in two possible lights. Believe me though (since I’ve spent 25 years writing about men’s fashion), even before the frequent use of AI, things have never been exactly what they look like in the fashion world.

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