An American man is taken hostage in the Middle East. This isn’t a headline-this is Nomadic Theater’s latest production, Two Rooms, by Lee Blessing. Though written in 1988 as a response to the Lebanese hostage crisis, the show is more relevant today than ever.
On the surface, Two Rooms is the story of Michael Wells, played by Mark Ipri (CAS ‘05), an American visiting professor at a university in Beirut, who is captured by terrorists and held hostage for three years. The play’s real subject, however, is the perpetual battle between the press and the U.S. government.
Michael and his wife, Lainie, played by Sophie Davis (CAS ‘06), are merely innocent victims unable to protect themselves from the ravages of international politics. In some ways, Michael’s the lucky one. The treatment he receives may be brutal, but at the very least his captors make no false pretenses.
Lainie, stuck in the “civilized” U.S., must contend with reporter Walker Harris, played by Rocco Sica (SFS ‘07) and State Department representative Ellen Von Oss, played by Shirley Norman (CAS ‘08). Unlike the terrorists, Ellen and Walker constantly misrepresent themselves. Lainie is caught between two sides: one that wants her to say nothing, and the other that wants her to tell all.
Through clever staging and a beautifully simple set, director Kate Couturier (SFS ‘05) helps the audience to see the many parallels between the physical torture Michael endures and the mental torture his wife suffers. A single scrap of carpet is the only item that graces the barren stage, which represents both Michael’s cell, and the home study that Lainie has “cleansed of all furniture.”
All four cast members inhabit this space, but thanks to Austin Williams’ (SFS ‘08) finely tuned lighting design, the simple stage is able to take on many moods. In a particularly chilling scene, blue lights create Ellen’s dream encounter with Mr. Wells, the man she is supposedly trying to help free. “I am real,” Michael tells her in the dream. “Of course,” she replies. “But I am not required to treat you that way. “
As Ellen, Norman does an excellent job of expressing this distant and business-like attitude throughout the play. It is her job to represent and defend the government, and she can’t let emotional involvement complicate her work. In one of the play’s final scenes, there’s a glimmer of hope when she admits the government has made a mistake, but she quickly puts back on her game face.
Walker, the reporter, takes an entirely different approach. He seemingly befriends and supports Lainie, but never allows himself to fully commit emotionally and in the end one can’t help but think that he has just been using her to get a good story.
In the middle of Ellen and Walker’s tug-of-war, Davis shines on stage as Lainie. Though there are monotonous moments in her performance, her emotional despair is real and her moments of hope touch the audience.
Ipri does not reach the same heights in his performance. He is believable and sympathetic, and the moments when he and his wife communicate through time and space show a strong relationship, but his character doesn’t develop. At the end of the play Ipri’s Michael seems much the same as he was in the beginning.
Two Doors is a play where the acting takes a back seat. The script is paramount, and no amount of direction could change that. At its best, a play can be more truthful than any paper or film, and Two Rooms is playwriting at its best.
