By Nate Brown
As you walk into the Leona Wagner Black Box at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, the first thing you’ll notice about Julie Jensen’s play Two-Headed is the simple elegance of Allen Smith’s set design. To the left, a cellar door. To the right, a tree with a swing next to some red rocks. The cool colors of Pilar I.’s lighting design evoke twilight in the desert at the end of a warm summer day. The beauty of the scene before you may be so compelling that you might not even notice the subtle mood being shaped by Mikal Troy Klee’s soundscape design, softly compelling the ear to listen in.
On this night, I was delighted to run into director Fran Pruyn in the lobby as she checked to see which friends of Pygmalion Theater Company were still on their way to see the show. Having seen her direction before in Wait!, I knew that the play would flow organically throughout as the actresses handled the challenge of playing the same character at ages in various ten-year increments (I wasn’t disappointed). After I sat down, I eavesdropped on the conversations around me and discovered playwright Julie Jensen was sitting right behind me. Some days are just better than others.
Lights dim. Audience hushes.
Two actresses come to the stage, silhouetted as they get into place. As the lights come up, Hettie (Haley McCormick Jenkins) and Lavinia (Brenda Hattingh) begin to move on the stage, and it becomes clear that our first age-range will be the girls in their prepubescence.
Jenkins begins the show with perfect energy and distraction for the age. Throughout the performance, Jenkins adjusts her mannerisms subtly to match the decade, sometimes so well that it catches the audience off-guard. The costume design by Maddiey Howell remains subtle and appropriate throughout, so it is up to the actors to show us the distinction of each change. Jenkins rises to this challenge, though her younger versions of Hettie tend to be stronger than the older.
Hattingh’s strengths in playing the ages of Lavinia seem to mirror Jenkins’s, with her older versions having strength and authenticity that aren’t as easy to feel in her younger character. As Lavinia ages, a haunted hardness creeps into her emotions behind a fractured psyche. Hattingh admirably portrays the volatility and vulnerability in ways that keep the audience unsettled to the very end.
Two-Headed follows the story of two girls as they deal with the emotions which result from being near the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Other themes include living within a polygamist society, the death and decay of human bodies, and painful accidents. While language, violence, and sexuality are all mild throughout the show, the overall theme is not appropriate for younger audiences.
I strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the facts surrounding the events and people of the Mountain Meadows Massacre prior to seeing this show. Mature children and adults will find Two-Headed to be a thoughtful and evocative look into an uncomfortable and much-disputed moment in the history of Utah and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Pygmalion Theatre Company presents Two-Headed by Julie Jensen.
Leona Wagner Black Box, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
November 8–23, 2019, 7:30 PM Thu-Sat, 2:00 PM Sun
Tickets: $22.50
801-355-ARTS (2787) or Toll-Free 1-888-451-ARTS (2787)
Pygmalion Theatre Company Website
Pygmalion Theatre Company Facebook Page
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center Facebook Page
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