When "WTC View" premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2003, New Yorkers were still grappling with the all-too-fresh memories of Sept. 11. Eight years later, new towers are finally rising on Ground Zero, the play has been adapted into a film, and, just weeks before a new production was scheduled to open, President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been discovered and killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan. Such a monumental announcement could very well have changed the tone of "WTC View," a play that explores the effect of Sept. 11 on the lives of New Yorkers. But it is a testament to playwright Brian Sloan that his play—his first effort—still captures the elegiac but persevering mood that continues to shape the city.
"WTC View" opens in the days after the attacks, as Eric attempts to find a roommate for his SoHo apartment while struggling to cope with the devastation around him. What follows is a series of encounters between Eric and the candidates that introduces, if not a microcosm of New York's varied populace, then at least a fairly diverse sample of those who'd be able to afford the rent. There's a campaign strategist, an investment banker, a business owner, and an NYU student. Sloan's script handles these wide-ranging interactions with ease, each character offering a new picture of life in New York post–Sept. 11, when even the most ordinary activities seemed to carry a tension, a weighty significance.
The play requires a strong cast, and this production largely hits the mark. As Eric, Nick Lewis is almost constantly on stage, and his occasional moments of souped-up emotion are softened by a quirky charm and a naturalness of gesture. Leah Curney is refreshingly candid as Josie, Eric's uptown friend and voice of reason, while Michael Carlsen stands out in the lineup of potential roommates, adding a moment of unwitting levity as Kevin, a trucking company owner and strung-out lothario.
Brian Prather's set and Jeff Davis' lighting make the most of a cramped space featuring a traverse stage that forces you to stare across at the other half of the audience, generating a sudden awareness of all the humanity that surrounds you in a theater. In the blackouts between scenes, lights brighten the apartment's windows, reminding you of those New York nights when the sky is never black but reflects the lights of the city.
"WTC View," particularly in its film adaptation, starring Michael Urie, has been lauded by the gay community for its presentation of a gay perspective on Sept. 11. Eric is gay, and his unseen ex-boyfriend remains a motivating force throughout the show. But the last 15 minutes of the production, which resolve this storyline, are the weakest, feeling like a forced addendum to what came before. It's an ending that's a bit too pat for the tumultuous period Sloan shows throughout the play, one in which existing relationships dissolve and new ones, gay and straight, unexpectedly blossom.
Presented by WTC View Onstage as part of Americas Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St., NYC. May 24–June 5. Tue.–Thu., 7:30 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 8:30 p.m.; Sun., 3:30 pm. (212) 279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com. Casting by Michael Cassara.