11, September

Playwright Paul Kampf also acts (with Liz Rebert) in 11, September, a two-hander about 1) the role of fate and coincidence in life; 2) the tendency of the human race to bury and ignore unpleasant truths; and 3) the impact of bombings and terror on our fragile psyches. Kampf packs all that and more into his strange, dark but compelling drama, which takes place in 2009 in a Brooklyn apartment and, briefly, at an NYU lecture hall.

Kampf plays Martin Healy, an American mathematics professor who has returned to New York from his teaching job in London to deliver a talk about the mysteries and horrors of 9/11. He's not a conspiracy freak but does ask difficult and challenging questions of his audience (e.g., why did the third and untouched trade tower collapse on that fateful day?)

Healy, who is divorced from his British wife, meets a young waitress in an Italian restaurant, Angela Madison, and is struck by her beauty. She in turn finds something irresistible in him and invites him back to her barely furnished apartment. 11, September seems to be developing into a May/September love story, only to take several unexpected twists and turns. The play keeps going deeper and deeper into character.

To explain all of the resulting revelations and surprises would be giving too much away. Suffice to say, fate, coincidence, secrecy, murder, sexual abuse and chaos are just some of the things that have affected the lives of these two damaged but decent souls.

Kampf tries mightily to juggle all of these balls; he isn't quite successful in that regard, but thanks to his and Rebert's expert acting, 11, September still comes off in worthy, moving fashion.