Unscripted: A Theater Community Responds to 9/11

New Jersey lost many residents on 9/11.Unscripted examines how its theater community responded to the tragedy and how individual actors, playwrights and artistic directors view the role of theater in helping themselves and others heal. It includes excerpts from an emotional gathering of theater professionals a few months after 9/11. The program features interviews with playwrights and scenes from productions in the New York and New Jersey area about 9/11 and its aftermath. Included is a talk with writer and journalist Anne Nelson, whose first play, "The Guys", is running to sold out audiences at the Flea Theater in New York. "The Guys" is based on Nelson's experience writing funeral speeches for a NYC fire captain. Listeners will hear Anthony Pennino talk about his play "Meditations from North America" - a fictional account of a kidnapped US journalist in a Philippine terrorist prison camp. Pennino wrote the play while following the Daniel Pearl story. The program also includes an interview with performance artist Reno, who lives blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center. Her one-woman show shares her reflections on the attacks and their implications.

Unscripted examines how its theater community responded to the tragedy and how individual actors, playwrights and artistic directors view the role of theater in helping themselves and others heal.