#99-04-20
For Release: April 26
Contact: Peter
Bailley
Knox College Presents Drama "Two Rooms," Play Inspired by "Arms for Hostages" Incidents
The Knox College Theatre presents "Two Rooms," a drama by Lee Blessing, at
7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, May 5-8, in Harbach Theatre, Ford Center
for Fine Arts. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and are available
at the door or in advance from the Office of Student Activities, Seymour Union,
309-341-7489.
In conjunction with the play, there will be a lecture and exhibit, "Hostage in America," about a man held for two months in solitary confinement, who subsequently filed suit and was awarded $5.4 million. Among the factors in the case, a replica jail cell built by Knox theatre professor Craig Choma.
Based on a real incident, "Two Rooms" portrays a woman's vigil for her
husband, who was taken hostage by terrorists when the couple was teaching in
Beirut, Lebanon. The play is based on true stories of the victims of a spate of
kidnappings in the Middle East during 1984, most prominently the Rev. Benjamin
Weir, whose release was complicated by clandestine negotiations later dubbed
the "Iran-Contra arms for hostages" incident.
"The woman, Lainie, faces a terrifying choice," explains the director,
Elizabeth Carlin Metz, Assistant Professor of Theatre. "She has to decide
whether to keep a low profile, as she's told by the U.S. government, or whether
to speak out, as the news media urge her to do.
"The play reaches beyond international politics to the wrenching human
dimensions of characters unwittingly cast in a global dilemma," explains Metz.
"Even the government official and the reporter in the play have to face the
contradictions between their professional activities and their personal
beliefs."
The hostages, held by terrorists in Beirut for varying lengths of time between
1984 and 1987, were dubbed "The Lebanon Seven," by Newsweek magazine. Newsweek
also later commented that "television in particular crossed the line from
covering the story to becoming part of it."
Director's Notes
Publicity Photos
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