“Attention passengers, we have a red signal, we should be moving shortly.”
Everyone groaned. The New York City subway had been especially fickle in recent months, and September 11, 2001 was no different. As usual I had no idea of why we had stopped while I said a prayer for patience and straphanged with a plethora of other commuters stuck in the “N” train going uptown. Eventually we started moving and I made it to work about fifteen minutes late. I had my coffee and was checking my email when my wife called with the news:
“A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center.”
I work as an office manager at my church and the entire day was spent fielding phone calls.
“Did you lose anyone?”
“Has anyone heard from Bob Welsh? He works at One Financial Center.”
“Is Susan Gandy all right? She flew from Boston this morning.”
By noon hordes of terrified pedestrians streamed up Third Avenue. I went outside and looked downtown. An opaque mushroom cloud engulfed a huge expanse of sky above surrounding where the Twin Towers used to stand. The brothers had fallen, the ash in the sky their departing ghosts. Within thirty minutes the people that passed me were covered in a whitish blue powder, residue from the destruction downtown. We opened the doors to the church so people could pray, but no one came inside.
Where were you when you heard the news?
As we near the anniversary of 9/11, it is absolutely vital to take the time to explore how this national tragedy has affected our nation. This examination must be personal and communal and should not be avoided because it is a sensitive topic. As Christians and as artists we have a need to present topical, pertinent drama even if the subjects are extremely difficult to face. True healing comes when we deal with tragedy rather than ignoring it.
Living in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11 was like living in a war zone. I felt like I was living in London during the Second World War. Police officers stood on every corner; formidable military vehicles streamed downtown in never ending waves; a smell like burning tires or mildewed drywall filled the air; and always, that ominous cloud loomed over the southern tip of Manhattan, obscuring the skyline and making you hope that somehow the towers were still standing inside the din.
For about two weeks the city stayed in a perpetual state of emergency. Yet although it was a frightening and horrible time, it was also a unifying one. We smiled at one another on the bus and the subway. People thanked police officers and firefighters. We mourned together as we saw the “missing” posters coating signposts and walls like moribund photographic leaves.
But then Rudy told us we should try to “get back to normal.”
We all knew what he meant. On one hand he was right. We could not let a senseless act of terrorism stop us from living our lives. But I was amazed to see how many people took Rudy’s words as a welcome excuse to get back to status quo and ignore how they were feeling.
I know I did. Inwardly I desperately needed a break from the enormous gravity of events that never seemed to end. But like that subway train caught at a red signal, I now realize how easy it was to move forward in outward appearance while remaining emotionally frozen.
What does this mean for drama? I believe we have a divine calling and responsibility to reflect on the events of 9/11 with our scripts. By tastefully and prayerfully dramatizing certain events, we can be the catalyst to help people emote over what they’re seeing while relieving the pent up pain and anguish the world tells them they shouldn’t feel anymore. The Greeks had a word for this process: catharsis. An audience will identify with what we present because they were part of the experience. They will be touched because they will feel the same way as the characters on stage. Through drama we can communicate this shared experience with one another and mourn or reflect as a community.
Jesus used parables to illustrate his sermons. Why? One reason was because he knew his listeners would identify with the plights of his characters. The situations were pertinent to the people of the times and related to their everyday struggles. Let us follow his example and tackle painful issues through our drama in an effort to truly move past the red and let healing begin.
