You certainly can’t accuse Thunder and Lightning ensemble of not being ambitious enough. Their inaugural offering is “Two Small Bodies, ” playwright Neal Bell’s 1977 character study involving the seemingly unfit mother of two abducted children and the cop who will go to any physical and psychological lengths necessary to convict her. It’s a shaky debut, at best, hampered by two performances that often seem uneasy with this dated play’s misogynistic violence. That’s not to say that the drama of a male cop waging a crusade of harassment and humiliation against a soft punching bag of a self-deprecating woman lacks dramatic credibility, but the true resonance of this two-hander today lies in the unbridled eroticism that underlies and ultimately defeats the characters’ motives. Actress Mary Grill has got the sangfroid down pat but lacks the sensuality; co-star Andrew Carl exudes the “Law and Order” passion but misses the deeper psychology of his coarse cop. Side by side, you can see them ripping each other apart. It’s harder to see how that would also include ripping off each other’s clothes. (F.O. Almeida)
