Just the ticket

Who: Murray Nossel and Paul Browde in “Two Men Talking”

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 5-8

Where: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis

Tickets: $30 general, $10 students; www.mondaviarts.org or 530-754-2787

The Mondavi Center will host “Two Men Talking,” one of the more unusual presentations to visit the venue during the past 11 years. Nightly performances are planned at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 5-8, in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

The title is accurate, as far as it goes; the presentation literally features two men, talking. They are Murray Nossel, a documentary filmmaker, who has been nominated for an Academy Award, who previously worked as a clinical psychologist, and Paul Browde, a psychiatrist in New York City. They met in South Africa, decades ago, when they were 12 years old. And at that time, they were not the best of friends — more like rivals. There were many years of estrangement after a bullying incident that occurred at school in 1974.

Eventually, they met again, many years later, in New York City. And as they conversed, they began to make sense of the incident at school and discussed their common experience as Jewish boys growing up in South Africa, dealing with issues ranging from homophobia to racism to AIDS.

Is “Two Men Talking” a play? Not precisely. It is unscripted, and Nossel and Browde prepare for each performance by having a long talk before they go on stage.

Jeremy Ganter, associate executive director of the Mondavi Center, saw the show two years ago during a conference for arts presenters. “And within 10 minutes, it was obvious (to me) that it was something special. The challenge (in presenting “Two Men Talking” here) is that it is very difficult to describe, and to describe how moving it is.”

When this reporter asked Ganter for a description regardless, he ventured that Browde and Nossel “are relating the arc of their lives. … They tell each other stories about certain things that have happened, incredibly charming and sweet, and they are amazingly open about everything. Sort of like peering into a talk therapy session.

“It’s about the bond they have with each other now as friends, and as they are exploring their experience, inevitably some of it translates into experiences you’ve had in your own life.”

Ganter added that while he’s seen the show once, he’s been told by others who’ve seen it twice that it is even more interesting the second time around, since no two performances are identical. And it all happens through storytelling — two men, talking.

Dan Milne, who directed the show, summed it up by saying, “The performance is part storytelling, part conversation between two men about their real lives; the best summation seems to me to be the live performance of a relationship.”

Browde and Nossel have been doing “Two Men Talking” on and off for years while pursuing their respective careers, and along the way they’ve picked up a few testimonials.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, remarked, “Storytelling is a powerful medium for communication — especially in situations where the message is too painful, too embarrassing, too secret to speak it. Storytelling can then become a journey to the truth. I commend their commitment and courage.”

Tickets are $30 general, $10 students, available at www.mondaviarts.org or 530-754-2787.

TwoMenTalking2W

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