(LEFT) Jill Eikenberry (RIGHT) Ella Dershowitz, photo by Andrea Phox
(LONG BRANCH, NJ) — “Do you ever wonder how much of your memories you chose to forget?”
That’s a question asked by Claire, a 29-year-old writer (currently working at a ticket agency) during her first time at therapy. Diana, her sharp-witted therapist, says, “Memory is an asset. You’ve already lived it, now learn from it.”
Both characters in The Two Hander by Julia Blauvelt learn from each other during this World Premiere play at New Jersey Repertory Company. The play stars Jill Eikenberry and Ella Dershowitz under the direction of SuzAnne Barabas.
The Two Hander is a wonderfully challenging play that follows the pair as they try to help Claire figure out her life. We see Claire nervously enter therapy for the first time - a scene that will be relatable to anybody who has ever gone to a therapist - and watch as weeks, then months, and eventually two years go bye as Claire learns therapy in real life is vastly different from how it is often portrayed in television or movies.
The passage of time moves rather quickly and both become something closer to friends than a typical doctor/patient relationship. This becomes part of the main plot line involving the ethical boundaries between a doctor and patient, and the dangers of getting too close.
The play takes place in an office in Manhattan. As with all NJ Rep plays, the set design by Jessica Parks is wonderful. The set looks like a very well lived in office, crammed with books, artwork, and an air conditioner on the fritz. Each piece of artwork features a doorway - a metaphor for how Diana perceives her profession. The artwork is by photographer Andrea Phox who has additional pieces on display in NJ Rep's gallery - a continuation of her artistic journey through the hallways and living quarters of the Immigration Hospital of Ellis Island.
Diana’s office is located in an old office building that appears to be crumbling down. Throughout the play we see books fall off the shelves and artwork shift out of position. Diana has been a therapist for a long time and seems to have a love/hate relationship with her office and Gary - the person she calls to fix issues from the air conditioner to the heater and everything else that breaks down. (It is rather impressive how NJ Rep manages to have the office come apart and I pity the workers who have to gather up the books and straighten the artwork after each performance).
As Diana digs deeper and deeper into Claire’s struggles to find the right job, right relationship, and meaning of life (she turns 30 during the production), she peels away the layers. At the end of the first act, Claire admits that above everything else she is angry. For months, Claire was wondering why Diana wasn’t taking notes, but that admission leads to the first note.
Both Jill Eikenberry and Ella Dershowitz put in strong performances and the direction by SuzAnne Barabas keeps the play moving along swiftly. The play is very intellectually stimulating and will almost certainly lead to some compelling conversations among audience members afterwards. If you like plays that make you think, this one is highly recommended.
The Two Hander originally had a reading as part of NJ Rep’s Monday Evening Salon Reading Series and was part of Project Y’s Wit Festival in 2023. The production was originally scheduled to run from April 18 through May 12th, but has already been extended until May 19, 2024. Performances take place Thursdays at 7:30pm; Fridays & Saturdays at 2:00pm & 7:30pm; and Sundays at 2:00pm. New Jersey Repertory Company is located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, New Jersey. Click here for ticket information.
If you don’t know much about NJ Rep, they are a fascinating theatre company. Years of producing new works (over 150 by now, I believe) caught the attention of tv and movie stars like Jill Eikenberry and her husband, and each season is almost sure to have a name you wouldn’t expect to see in a small theatre. Personally, I love their mission of producing new theatre; it is one of the most challenging aspects for a theatre company and one of the most rewarding. They’ve been producing new works since 1997. It’s not only important to support theatre companies like NJ Rep, it’s vital for the industry.
About the Artists
JILL EIKENBERRY is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Ann Kelsey on NBC’s long-running hit series LA Law, which earned Jill four Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and a Golden Globe Award. Jill has starred on Broadway in Moonchildren, All Over Town, Summer Brave, Watch on the Rhine and Onward Victoria. She won an Obie award for her off-Broadway performances in Life Under Water and Lemon Sky. Jill’s more recent New York appearances have been in Enter Laughing, the Musical, The Kid, for which she received a Drama Desk Nomination, Jericho, Evening at the Talk House by Wallace Shawn, and Fern Hill by her husband Michael Tucker – first at The New Jersey Repertory Company and then at 59E59 Theater in New York. Her other appearance at NJRep was in Michael’s first play, The M Spot. This past year Jill and Michael appeared in a filmed version of his play, The Nice Man Cometh. Jill’s feature films include Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, Rich Kids, Hide in Plain Sight, Arthur, The Manhattan Project, Something Borrowed, Young Adult, and In Reality. She has starred in numerous TV movies including An Inconvenient Woman, Chantilly Lace and the sequel, Chantilly Bridge, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Last fall she was a guest star on The Good Fight. And in March she had a guest starring role on the pilot for a reboot of LA Law. Jill has recently been part of a new streaming theater company, New Normal Rep, which has had two successful seasons.
ELLA DERSHOWITZ - Off-Broadway/NYC: Can You Forgive Her? (Vineyard Theatre), Intimacy (The New Group), Card and Gift (Clubbed Thumb), Connected (59E59), On the Verge (Attic Theater), Three Musketeers: 1941 (Project Y), A Splintered Soul (Rosalind Productions). Regional: Joy and Pandemic (The Huntington), Actually (Aurora), The Wolves (Capital Stage), Sovereignty and Thomas and Sally (Marin Theatre Company), The Siegel (City Lights), 4,000 Miles and You Will Remember Me (Hudson Stage), Visitors and The Screenwriter’s Daughter(Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse), Twelfth Night (Payomet). TV/Film: Phil Spector (HBO), The Affair (Showtime), Lie to Me (Fox), Knife Fight, Two-Bit Waltz, Addiction: A 60’s Love Story, I Am Michael, Pitching Tents. Training: Yale University and LAMDA. When not acting, Ella makes crossword puzzles.
JULIA BLAUVELT is an NYC-based playwright and screenwriter. Her work has been produced at New Normal Rep and received residences at Orchard Project and Athena Writers Lab. Her plays have been finalists for the WP Theater Playwrights Lab, Neukom Playwriting Award, and the New Voices Award. She holds her MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch.
SUZANNE BARABAS - For NJ Rep, SuzAnne directed Find Me a Voice, North Fork (premiere), Immortal Interlude (premiere), Octet (premiere), Till Morning Comes (premiere), Maggie Rose, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch (starring Christine Lavin, premiere), The Adjustment, 10% of Molly Snyder, Romulus Linney’s Klonsky & Schwartz, Apostasy (premiere), Women Who Steal, Apple, The Housewives of Mannheim (premiere), Evie’s Waltz, Dead Ringer (premiere), Steven Dietz’s Yankee Tavern, Puma (premiere), Night Train (premiere), Just In Time: The Judy Holliday Story, Bakersfield Mist, Annapurna, Happy, Broomstick (premiere), Lucky Me (premiere), Swimming at the Ritz (U.S. premiere), and The Realization of Emily Linder (premiere). SuzAnne directed productions of The Housewives of Mannheim at 59E59 Theater (NYC), Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara (CA), and Phoenix Theater (Indianapolis). In addition, she directed regional productions of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, The Fantasticks, The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd, Cabaret, Shaw’s Heartbreak House, A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party, Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother, Philip Barry’s The Philadelphia Story, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, Mark Dunn’s Belles, Lee Blessing’s Down the Road among others. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, BMI, the Dramatists Guild, SDC, and LPTW.
photos by Andrea Phox
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