The Visalia Community Players open their 2008-2009 season with a moderately unorthodox choice– the topical drama Two Rooms by Lee Blessing.
But while it may be unorthodox in that most community theatres start their seasons with a comedy, the Players have done this opener just right. Two Rooms is an elegantly staged, sensitively treated production that illustrates the level of work the Players can achieve when they engage both the heart and mind.
Two Rooms was originally written in 1988 when the Reagan/1st Bush Administration were carrying out policies on a string of American abductions by Islamic militant groups. Yet the script is remarkably timely in the closing of the second Bush Administration and its increasingly callous treatment of Western-Islamic relations. Nothing in the script feels as though it is 20 years old except for the geography.
The story is a simple one: An American professor is held hostage Beirut. In an attempt to connect with his experience and keep her heart engaged with him, the professor’s wife converts his study into a bare room mimicking the room of his captivity. Into these rooms come the debate on American foreign policies, the government’s coldness towards victims and their families, and the role of media and journalism in such crises. But more importantly, these two rooms contain the individual experiences and feelings of the people for whom this isn’t an ‘issue’ but instead it is their life– and death– experience.
As Lainie, the wife, Anna Nersesian displays the widest range of emotion in a performance that is compellingly constructed. Her ability to pace her emotions, choosing just the right moments to let loose or to hold back, shows the level of her acting technique. She is the driving force behind this production and the scenes in which she debates the emotional realities of her character’s experience with her fellow actors are fully engaging. You root for this woman who is fighting through her pain.
As the American professor in captivity, James Sherill is well cast. His tall, lanky frame seems to collapse in on itself under the weight of his imprisonment and Sherill has a natural sensitivity that suits the character well. While it’s evident that he’s not yet as seasoned a performer as Nersesian, he performs this role well.
As the journalist interested in telling Lainie’s story, Clark Hawley is immensely likeable. His best moments, though, are when he’s arguing a point or action with Nersesian’s Lainie. He doesn’t shy away from an argument or let Nersesian take over the scene, which makes for far more interesting watching for an audience.
The fourth member of the cast is remarkable in her own right: Ashley Halford, as the government bureaucrat assigned to Lainie’s case, makes her acting debut in this production. Poised and restrained, her characterization was nicely done, annoyingly dogmatic without being insufferable. Her public speaking and debate background played very nicely into her character, Ellen’s, monologue about how the government must make horrid, heartless decisions about hostage cases in order to be able to function for the whole nation. The monologue makes their case quite clear and helps us to understand how her character’s emotional doors remain closed– even though we wish they wouldn’t.
The play itself is done in a black-box style with some multi-media added in as required by the script. The lighting design is graceful and effective, giving the set (and the people in it) an otherworldly glow.
Directors Irene Morse and Elicia Russell have given us some fine, contemporary work in the past with shows like Lips Together, Teeth Apart and Stop Kiss. Two Rooms is an excellent addition to their list of credits.
Two Rooms runs September 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, and 20 at the Ice House Theatre in Visalia. Tickets are $12.
