‘Two Rooms’ Shows Struggle to Connect

“Two Rooms,” Lee Blessing’s drama about a couple separated by a stormy sea of political agendas, is given a lackluster presentation at the Jewel Box Theater.

The year is 1985. The husband Michael (Henry Woronicz) is being held hostage in Beirut while the wife Laine (Rose Portillo) waits for his safe release, caught between the U.S. government (Iona Morris) and the snooping media (Steven Culp). Hidden away, shackled and blindfolded, sporadically beaten by his captors, Michael dreams of his wife and freedom. Desperate to form some sort of connection with her beloved husband, the wife transforms her bedroom into a dark, cell-like prison.

Director Nelson Handel never captures a sense of urgency and instead shows hope beaten down only by time and bureaucracy. Morris, with her carefully enunciated words and nuanced glances, skitters between duty and morality. Culp’s character occupies that hazy realm between opportunist and crusading reporter. Unfortunately, the chemistry between Portillo and Woronicz never rises above lukewarm.

Without a sympathetic couple or driving anxiety, this piece is reduced to dull denunciations of last decade’s political faux pas in the Middle East.

* “Two Rooms,” Jewel Box Theatre, 10426 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Ends March 16. $22. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.