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Two Rooms

Two Rooms

by Lee Blessing
Directed by Jeffrey Casazza 

Lee Blessing’s Two Rooms was first produced at the La Jolla Playhouse
in 1988.  I first read the play last year while meeting with the faculty to
decide this year’s season.  Not only did I fall in love with the play; I was surprised at how contemporary it still is.  It was written
at the end of the Reagan Era as we were moving into Bush Senior’s
presidency.  We are now about to leave Bush Junior’s presidency and
current events are remarkably similar to those when the play was
written.

The Middle East continues to be a hotbed of terrorism - only the
locations and names have changed.  All we need do is exchange
Afghanistan or Iraq for Lebanon.  Some of you may remember the names of the slain hostages of the late 1980’s-William Buckley, Peter Kilburn and William Higgins.  We only need to go back a few years to remember the names of Daniel Pearl, Eugene Armstrong, Paul Johnson and others and the barbaric nature of their murders.

When looking at current and past events, the pessimist in me sees what Michael sees - war is the natural state of the human race. World wars, religious wars, racial wars, the war on terror, gang wars and wars between individuals can be found everywhere.  It’s a bleak outlook. However, the optimist in me sees hope.  As Pandora’s Box released the evils of war, we can’t forget the soft voice of hope. Maybe hope is active as in the idea of never giving up and planning for the desired result, or maybe it is a little more passive as in the idea of praying for the desired result.  I also think hope can be found in love - love for our children, love for our friends and family, and love for our spouses or partners.  Love makes us look to the future with the expectation of a positive outcome.

Beyond the politics and terror, I am drawn even more to the love story that permeates the play and the hope that drives this husband and wife to reunite.  Michael dreams of Lainie and writes imaginary letters to her.  Lainie has turned Michael’s home office into the room in which she believes he’s being held in order to be closer to him.  The love they have for each other is strong enough to reach across both time and space allowing them to be together.

Is war the true fabric of humanity or is it hope and love?  Or is hope
and love the means by which we can overcome war?  The play beautifully raises these questions and requires us to look outside the world of the play and into ourselves to discover the answers.


Studio Theatre in Kettler Hall
Nov. 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 at 8:00 p.m.  
Nov. 16 and 23 at 2:00 p.m.
Sign Language Interpreted Performance Sunday, Nov. 23

Two Rooms, an intense, intellectual experience focuses on Michael, an American professor, who has been taken hostage in Beirut; and his wife Lanie, back in the States, who awaits word of his fate.  Michael is in one small room being held and tortured by Shi’ite Muslims and Lanie, 10,000 miles away, is in a second room, stripped of furnishings, that was once Michael’s den. Isolated from each other for years, Lanie allows a select few into her inner sanctum–including a newspaper reporter who believes that by speaking out publicly, Lanie can save her husband. It is within these confines that Two Rooms unfolds.

Admission for IPFW students with I.D. is free
$14 Adults
$10 Seniors and Groups of 10 or more
$12 Faculty/Staff/Alumni
$5 Students 18 and under
$8 Other “college” students with ID

The New Schatzlein Box Office in the Rhinehart Music Center is open Monday – Friday, 12:30 – 6:30 pm from Sept. 1 – May 31.  Tickets may be purchased for any show during the season at any time. 
Box Office: 260-481-6555
TTD: 260-481-4105

For information call the Department of Theatre at 260-481-6551

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IPFW is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access University.