The Two Rooms in Lee Blessings play refers to a windowless cubicle in Beirut where an adult male American hostage is being held by Arab terrorists, and a room in his home in the United States that his wife has stripped of furniture so that at least symbolically, she can share his ideal.
The stage combines both rooms and is also the locale of imaginary conversations between the hostage and his wife, as well as the setting for the real conversations she has with a zealot reporter and a dispassionately efficient State department official. Essentially Two Rooms explores the effect of the media, the government and the individual can have on a fragile situation where lives and foreign policies hang in the balance.
The premise is a unique and compelling one and the realism is added to with a number of slides that are displayed during the production that depict the couple in happier times often in stark contrast to the husband’s current existence. This story is a love story and demonstrates the power of that emotion.
Asher Lewis directs a touching emotional piece. The cast connects well with each other and include Steve Ferguson as the hostage/husband, Shelley Boyle as the wife, Jack Millard as the intense reporter and Melissa Bailey as the government official who is the representative of the State Department who is so cold and efficient you can almost see her social security number.
Two rooms is produced by 3KO Broadway stages and staged at Sidewalk Studio Theatre, 4150 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. until November 19. Tickets are $15. Call 818.685.9939 |