Ella Dershowitz and Jill Eikenberry to Star in World Premiere of “Two Hander” at NJ Rep

(LONG BRANCH, NJ) — New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) will continue its 27th Season with the World Premiere of Two Hander by Julia Blauvelt, directed by NJ Rep Artistic Director SuzAnne Barabas. The play stars Ella Dershowitz and Jill Eikenberry and runs from April 18 through May 12, 2024.

Therapy first-timer Claire is reluctant to undergo psychotherapy. But after a few sessions with Diana, her unorthodox, sharp-witted therapist, a sort of trust begins to form between the two. But there are obstacles in the room as patient and doctor dig deeper and come to rely on each other in a way that transcends the office. This very fragile trust can easily turn into betrayal.

“We are thrilled to continue our 27th Season with the world premiere of Julia Blauvelt’s Two Hander. This compelling new play delves into the intricacies of trust and betrayal within the therapist-patient relationship, showcasing the power of human connection in unexpected ways,” says SuzAnne Barabas, Artistic Director of NJRep. “We are also thrilled to welcome Ella Dershowitz to NJ Rep and welcome back the award-winning actress Jill Eikenberry.”

The creative team set design by Jessica Parks, lighting design by Jill Nagle, technical direction by Brian Snyder, costume design by  Patricia E. Doherty, sound design by Nick Simone,  assistant director and assistant lighting design, Janey Huber, production stage manager is Rose Riccardi.

Performances take place at 7:30pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with additional matinees on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2:00pm. Tickets are NOW on sale at NJRep.org or by calling 732-229-3166. NJRep is located at 179 Broadway, Long Branch, New Jersey, 07740. 

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.

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, currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Last fall, she was a guest star on “The Good Fight.” In March, she had a guest star 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.

Julia Blauvelt (Playwright) 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 an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch.

Suzanne Barabas (Director And NJ Rep Artistic Director) 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 (US 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.

New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) was founded in 1997 by SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas. Its current central headquarters is the Lumia Theater, located on lower Broadway in Long Branch. The theater’s mission is to develop and produce new plays and to make a lasting contribution to the American Stage. Over two decades, NJ Rep has produced 150 plays, of which 125 have been world premieres. The theater has the additional distinction of having had many of its plays produced by other theaters around the country, totaling over 200 subsequent productions in the US and overseas.

In 2012 and 2018, NJ Rep was the recipient of a National Theater Company Grant from the American Theater Wing that sponsors the annual Tony Awards for Broadway in recognition of its contribution to the repertoire of the American Stage. Only seven theaters have had this distinction. In addition, the theater has presented over 400 developmental readings as well as introduced 136 new works through its Theatre Brut Short-Play Festivals that focus on visionary and avant-garde works. NJRep acquired a new property, a 28,000 square foot school situated on 2 ½ acres and located just five minutes from its Main Stage Lumia Theater and two blocks from the Jersey Shore. The theater plans on gradually transforming the school in stages into a cultural center that will house additional performance spaces, an art cinema, an art museum, a rooftop café, an arts education wing, and residences for out-of-town actors and playwrights. When completed, the center will present a wide array of programs in acting, playwriting, art, sculpture, poetry, music, and photography and will serve as a catalyst for economic development and as the foundation for the cultural renaissance of the community.

NJRep thanks the following for their support: The Shubert Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The New Jersey Cultural Trust, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, OceanFirst Foundation, Manasquan Bank Philanthropic Fund, Investors Bank Foundation, Community Foundation of New Jersey, Jewish Communal Fund, Darien Family Fund, Citizens Philanthropic Foundation, The Smart Family Foundation, NJEDA.