A State Department employee, speaking to a woman whose husband was kidnapped in the Middle East: "I wish I could take your pain away."
Woman's reply: "I wish you could remember it."
The tension between those two characters, each with her own set of values and perceptions of duty, provides a great deal of the dramatic weight in Lee Blessing's "Two Rooms," a play that hasn't lost much relevance or bite 22 years after its premiere.
If anything, the issues and conflicts addressed can produce an even sharper sting today, when so much of the world is on edge, week in and week out, from the threat of terrorism - and when governments have not necessarily become any more effective at dealing with that threat.
The taut production of "Two Rooms" currently running at Everyman Theatre deftly plays to the strengths of the work, which pivots between Beirut, where American professor Michael Wells is in the hands of kidnappers, and Washington, where his wife, Lainie, transforms a room of her home into a cell for herself so she can live some of what he's experiencing.
Director Vincent Lancisi makes the most of the spare set designed and superbly lit by Daniel Ettinger to intensify the dichotomy between those two worlds, and he has the sturdy cast digging into the material.
Some of that material seems, by today's perspective, heavy-handed in its sociopolitical content. There certainly isn't much nuance from the State Department character, Ellen Van Oss, who at one point suggests that terrorists are mad because they weren't born American. We've progressed a little since 1988 in understanding motivations, causes and consequences in the complex world of militant Islam.
But the play is very persuasive when focusing on the suffering of two people cruelly, inexplicably separated, and the impotence of a government official trapped behind cliched lines of comfort. The fourth character in "Two Rooms" is journalist Walker Harris, who forgets that his job is to report the news, not make it (talk about contemporary relevance).
Clinton Brandhagen gives a beautifully nuanced performance as Michael; his last monologue is delivered with a particular affecting naturalness. As Lainie, Dawn Ursula misses some possible layers of expressive shading, but she achieves considerable power along the way.
Tim Getman is bit of an aggressive one-noter as Walker (and also gives us a journalist who never takes a single note), but he nonetheless fits effectively into the tight ensemble.
Deborah Hazlett's Ellen is masterfully limned. The actress conveys all the personal remoteness of a seasoned, stereotypical bureaucrat. But every now and then, the slightest change of expression on her face opens a window into her heart; and every now and then, in little pauses between words, that heart can be heard beating. This Ellen is clearly as trapped as Lainie in that cathartic room.
If you go "Two Rooms" runs through Feb. 21 at Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St. Tickets are $22 to $40. Call 410-752-2208 or go to everymantheatre.org.
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