Poignant relevance emerges in a well-constructed “Two Rooms”
Lee Blessing’s drama Two Rooms launches from a beautiful premise. American professor Michael (Stephen Ferguson) is being held hostage in Beirut. Meanwhile, back in the states, his wife Lainie (Shelley Boyle) has emptied and blacked out a room in their home so that she can symbolically share in his suffering.
At the Sidewalk Studios in Burbank, the stage is bare (except for a small, cloth mat) and is dominated by two large flats with wire fencing along the top, representing the steel basement walls. As the audience enters the 40-seat theatere space, a scruffy character is already in place, sleeping fitfully in the corner of the stage.
“Someone should tell him there’s a play about to start,” quips my companion. We share a chuckle before it all gets deathly serious.
Considering his character is blindfolded for almost the entire play, Stephen Ferguson does a remarkable job of conveying his pain and despair. He can’t see the bloody smears and hand prints on the walls that encage him. Michael keeps himself sane by reciting letters to his wife, full of reminiscences and revelations. At times he philosophizes and examines the nature of time. “Time is change,” he concludes. He is detached as he describes his plight, the frequent relocation in a coffin-like box, the beatings and the deprivation of light and air. When he describes his captors, noting “their voices are so young,” it’s chilling to hear.
Back at home, Lainie is besieged by a reporter (Jack Millard) who wants to champion her case and by a stern, matter-of-fact State Department representative Ellen (Melissa Bailey), who wants Lainie to refrain from agitating. Ellen spouts the party line, urging Lainie to “maintain cautious optimism.” Without hope, Ellen insists, “there can be no foreign policy.” But Lainie recognizes these are hollow sentiments.
It’s an interesting examination of reverse power-play, with Lainie’s interactability ultimately calling the shots. Some fof the most lively exchanges involve the antagonism between the belligerent journalist and the government attaché. While Lainie openly questions his motives, in fact, it’s the reporter who opens her eyes to the calculating government machinations, to her situation as a political football.
A new development in Act Two ramps up the tension. A separate and more high-profile hostage situation threatens to either eclipse or assist Lainie’s enduring cause.
Directed by Asher Lewis, the scenes are short and punchy. With Lainie as the play’s nucleus, her slow delivery and static, presumably numb, performance occasionally threatens to grind the drama to a halt. We keep wanting her to pull out the big guns, in terms of an emotional outburst. Also, some nagging questions remained unanswered; wouldn’t someone held hostage for three years have a heavy beard? Also, where is Lainie’s Family during her ordeal?
Two Rooms is a well-constructed, well-acted play that dares to examine some touchy issues so relevant to these war-torn times.
Two Rooms, through Nov. 19; Friday: 8 p.m.; Saturdays: 8 p.m.; Price: $15. 3KO Broadway Theatre Company is located at the Sidewalk Studios, 4150 Riverside Drive, Burbank, CA 91505. Box offices and bookings: 818.685.9939; www.3ko.org
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 |