11, September
11, September 1989. 11, September 2001. 11, September 2009. Those dates are etched in the mind of Martin Healy, a mathematician who becomes fascinated by statistical probabilities and chaos theory. To him, that specific date encompasses a series of improbable coincidences that change his life forever.
Playwright Paul Kampf uses the powerful associations of that fateful date in American history to explore the painful excavation of buried personal truths in his two-character drama "11, September." The play, running through February 7 at the Odyssey Theatre, represents the local debut of Breadline Productions, a theater company that has moved to Los Angeles after 15 years in Chicago.
While the drama raises provocative questions about coincidence and conspiracies of silence, the twists and turns of the plot become excessive. What starts off as a suspenseful series of exchanges between two strangers spins off into a chaotic universe of family dysfunction and violence. To quote a line from the play, "there are too many ghosts" in this basement.
The play begins with Martin at the lectern, delivering a paper for a conference on the statistical probability of 9/11, being held in New York City on the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Behind his preoccupation with Boolean mathematics and truth values, Martin is a lonely man still living off the memory of a passionate affair two decades ago in the same metropolis. What he really wants is not to live by the numbers but to rekindle the romance left burning in his heart.
Instead of finding the woman he long ago loved, Martin stumbles into the life of Angela Madison, unexpectedly letting a one-night encounter extend into a soul-baring series of personal exchanges with the unsettlingly bold waitress. Between their embraces, they share revelations about a revenge plot, a suicide, and adultery. Other tragic complications come to the surface throughout the drama, especially in the melodramatic closing scene.
Gita Donovan’s direction is well-tuned to the abrupt tonal shifts in the couple’s relationship. Kampf performs capably in the part of his fictional creation, Martin, and Liz Rebert brings a restless intensity to the part of Angela, who struggles to keep from becoming unhinged by traumatic memories. While Martin sleeps, she goes into the bathroom, making mysterious phone calls that involve vague references to tragic events.
James Spencer’s production design, a disheveled bedroom in which most of the play takes place, effectively echoes the characters' sense of displacement as does the brooding original score by Chris Cash. Bosco Flanagan's lighting design, highlighted by lamps left glowing in the dimness, emphasizes the dark truths hiding in the hearts of the characters.
Chance encounters and revelation of secrets are often the stuff of provocative theater. But in "11, September," too many dates and dilemmas come into the mix to make the improbable seem possible.
"11, September" runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through February 7 at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 477-2055 x2 or www.11September Play.info.