Spotlight Players highlight plight of American hostages in Two Rooms

You may have seen the posters for this past weekend's Spotlight Players' production of Lee Blessing's Two Rooms directed by senior Shelia Toomb. The posters featured a night vision photo of a man with his mouth open and a blindfold on. Going into the Blackbox Theater last Friday night, I only knew three things about the play: those posters, the fact that there were only four actors and that the Spotlight Players always perform plays that highlight a specific social issue with proceeds from the show going to support that issue. This year all profits went to Amnesty International, a group that for the last 50 years has helped people fight for human rights.

Set in the 1980s, the play opens with Professor Michael Wells, played by sophomore Claudio Silva, sitting blindfolded and handcuffed in a windowless cell in Beirut, Lebanon. He had been a professor at the American university in the city. Silva remained on the stage most of the time even as scenes occurred in the other room featured in the play. In the United States, Michael's wife, Lainie Wells, played by freshman Laura Biesiadecki, sat in her husband's former office. She had "cleansed" the room by stripping it of his furniture, wall hangings and other personal effects, leaving the walls bare. It helped her feel closer to her husband because she pictures how her husband would be living.

Michael took off his blindfold and spoke to the audience directly. His words served as letters he wrote to his wife in his head. He spoke about his situation in Lebanon, such as being taken to the bathroom once a day and being moved from location to location in a coffin. His guards would beat him for wearing the blindfold wrong or even if it seemed like it had been re-tied. Sometimes he would reminisce about better times with his wife.

Meanwhile in America, Lainie would talk to Michael as if he was there with her. Only two characters went to visit Lainie in the room: Ellen Van Oss, played by senior Cordelia Snow, who is the state worker assigned to Lainie's case, and Walker Harris, played by junior Matthew Payne, who is a reporter trying to get Lainie to go public with her story.

All of the actors played their parts with a fierceness and passion that was unexpected on the college stage. Silva spoke to the audience and managed to seem hopeful about his situation. Because he had few interactions with the other cast members and remained on stage for most of the play, it would have been easy to be distracting, but he managed to stay in character the entire time, looking serious and as if he was alone in a cell.

Biesiadecki brought a quiet sadness to the role of the wife who just wanted the return of her husband, and she showed a deep passion when speaking about him. The audience could feel her pain and anguish. Snow was the epitome of her professional character from her severe bun, without a hair out of place, to her detached way of conveying the news to Lainie. Payne managed to display his character's fierceness and desire to get the story while also conveying his obvious soft spot for Lainie.

There was intense chemistry between Lainie and Walker. He became her shoulder to cry on, but there was also the sense that he wanted something more. Nothing romantic came of this chemistry and the closest they came was when she broke down crying in his arms. Michael and Lainie did not have as much chemistry as Lainie had with Walker, but there was an obvious mutual respect shown when she imagined being with Michael one last time and he kissed her on the cheek tenderly.

The serious tone of the show was exemplified through the somber grey walls of the set and the various music selections that provided transition from scene to scene. There were few props; a stool, a mat and a music stand were the only set pieces. The lights shone more brightly on the side of the stage where the action was taking place. The production staff effectively used minimal techniques to capture the tone of the show.

 "The mission of the Spotlight Players is to bring important issues to the stage to generate dialogue." As I exited the theater, I found myself doing exactly that: having a dialogue with my roommates about the show and the issues it brought up. The play was about a sensitive topic but was handled with care by the Spotlight Players, and I hope it sparked many conversations around campus.