Blue Chicory Players at BSC Present
“Two Rooms,” April 24-26

(Bluefield)—The Blue Chicory Players at Bluefield State College will present “Two Rooms” by Lee Blessing on April 24-26 in the Basic Science Auditorium on the BSC campus.  A matinee performance at 12:30 p.m. on April 24 precedes evening performances at 7:30 on April 25-26.  The play is directed by Dr. Sharon Carr, Assistant Professor of Speech and Drama, at BSC.

Two Rooms by Lee Blessing is a play about lives that are forever altered by an act of terrorism.  Michael, played by BSC student Andrew Lawrence, is an American teacher who has been taken hostage by terrorists in Beirut.  His wife, Lainie, played by BSC student Shamatee Mitchell, has sequestered herself in their home in the United States as she tries to obtain his release.  The action of the play takes place in two rooms:  the room in Beirut in which Michael is being held, and a room in Lainie and Michael’s home which Lainie has stripped to the bare walls to help her understand a little of Michael’s ordeal and to help her feel his presence.  Reality and sense of place are blurred throughout the production as Michael and Lainie reach out to each other in their imaginations.  

Karen Harvey, BSC’s Director of Institutional Advancement and Planning, plays a dispassionate State Department representative who is assigned to Michael’s case and Dr. Carr plays a reporter, who is disillusioned with the government’s response to the situation and is trying to get Lainie to speak out.  The bare rooms in the play are filled with the agony of waiting, with the miasma of fear, with the need to hope, with the seediness of betrayal, and with a desperate and enduring love.  Through Michael and Lainie’s ordeal, the audience simultaneously explores what it means to be an American in a time of violent upheaval and to be a member of a disenfranchised population confronted daily with the power and privilege of others.  Two Rooms takes a long and difficult look at the real human beings behind today’s tragic headlines. 

“This has been one of the most difficult plays I have ever directed,” noted Dr. Carr.  “I am deeply impressed with the complex and human characters created by this outstanding cast.  Stretch your horizons, struggle with the disturbing issues which make up the world we inhabit, abandon your comfort zone, and allow yourself to be moved.  Come and see Two Rooms.”

This production has been designated a benefit performance for the family of Gary Williams.  Instead of regular admission, donations will be accepted at the door.

April 16, 2008

School of Arts & Sciences