'Two Girls' Off-Broadway review — a fresh look at an infamous online video

Read our review of Two Girls off Broadway, Eliya Smith's play that comments on a viral shock-porn video, running at the Cherry Lane Theatre through November 29.

Summary

• Two Girls is a play that comments on the cultural impact of the viral 2007 shock-porn video 2 Girls 1 Cup
• Two actresses perform verbatim interviews with men about their memories of the video, which raise deeper questions about women's relationships with their bodies

You don’t need to have seen the infamous 2007 internet video "2 Girls 1 Cup" to enjoy Eliya Smith’s play Two Girls off Broadway. The shock-porn clip became an internet phenomenon in the late aughts, inspiring horrified reactions and conversations that have persisted for nearly two decades. Now, her two-hander play brings the oft-discussed video back into the cultural conversation in a surprising way.

Smith has never seen it (and neither have I), and that was the impetus for the play. She interviewed men in her life about their memories of encountering it as adolescents: What happened? What impact did it have? How did it make them feel?

Chloe Claudel and Juliana Sass perform the interviews verbatim. I won’t recount the disgusting details here, but the audience responds to the recollections with audible gasps and laughter. The effect is like a reaction video — a live reenactment of the collective shock the original video provoked across the internet. Funnily enough, the cup itself is remembered differently by everyone: transparent glass, pebbled plastic, a red Solo cup. The staging plays up these discrepancies, with different cups being swapped out to occupy the space between the actors. In one particularly funny bit, a refrigerator opens to reveal dozens of red Solo cups.

The men’s memories are often unsettling and occasionally funny; Claudel, who also co-directs with Mitchell Polonsky, is particularly affecting as a self-aware man who seems nervous to revisit the video in his mind, calculating his responses about accidentally seeing the video in fifth grade. But Two Girls more interestingly evolves into a moving meditation on what it means to inhabit a body. I wish Smith had turned the focus more squarely on her own experience of that question, but she uses this unlikely cultural moment to explore broader topics surrounding womanhood, health, and women’s relationships to their bodies.

For those who watched the original video, the play offers a chance to revisit and perhaps reconsider that experience. For those of us who only know its lore, it makes the conversation surrounding the video newly tangible — and confirmed that I never want to see it.

Two Girls summary

Eliya Smith's Two Girls revisits the viral gross-out porn video "2 Girls 1 Cup," which became a cultural hot topic in the early 2000s. The play, developed with The Goat Exchange, explores the video’s impact through interviews with men about their memories of encountering it as adolescents. Chloe Claudel and Juliana Sass hilariously perform these interviews verbatim.

What to expect at Two Girls

Rest assured, audiences won’t see the original video or a reenactment onstage, though the characters do recount some disturbing details. Two Girls is recommended for audiences ages 18 and up.

The runtime is 1 hour with no intermission. Two Girls runs in repertory with the hourlong solo show School Pictures, and though the two productions are thematically unrelated, you can plan a double feature at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

What audiences are saying about Two Girls

Audiences at early performances of Two Girls shared mixed reactions on Reddit, with some questioning the show’s format and others reflecting on its impact.

• “It’s extremely well done. The concept is a really neat one, and anything else would spoil it. Worth it.” - Reddit user u/cutandcover
• “I was disappointed. Found myself itching for it to end. Seems like it needs to be worked on some more and fleshed out a bit.” - Reddit user u/Square_Zombie_636
• “I found the whole endeavor a bit half-baked and self indulgent. It held my attention for sure, but it never really coalesced into something greater. It touches on some very relevant themes that I'd love to see fleshed out more; I just don't think it worked for me in this format. Shout out to the two performers who were great!” - Reddit user u/Moist_Report_6934

Who should see Two Girls

• Those who remember the viral video will appreciate Two Girls. The play offers something of a group therapy session, revisiting the content through memories.
• Theatregoers interested in verbatim theatre will be interested by Smith’s interview-based format, and an actual interview recording is used in one section.
• Audiences drawn to unconventional theatre experiences will enjoy Two Girls. It takes an infamous piece of internet history and uses it as a kick-off for a live exploration.

Learn more about Two Girls off Broadway

Two Girls shows there is more to this infamous video than its shock value, even if the play doesn’t know what to do with those new layers yet.

Learn more and get Two Girls tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Two Girls is at the Cherry Lane Theatre through November 29.

Photo credit: Two Girls off Broadway. (Photo courtesy of Cherry Lane Theatre)