Domestic Drama Unfolds Against Backdrop of 9/11

One suspects that “September 10,” Art Shulman’s world premiere drama at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood, is an early entry in what will be a teeming field of 9/11 plays.

Shulman’s workable but occasionally cloying premise unites two stories--the small, personal tale of one couple’s domestic disintegration, and a dramatic re-creation of the massive, world-altering events of Sept. 11, with a particular emphasis on the Twin Towers’ collapse and aftermath.

The cloying bits crop up in the domestic saga. On Sept. 10, Jodi Baker (a game Jules Roenitz) admits to husband Dan (a stiff and unconvincing Chris Winfield, miscast here) that she has had an extramarital fling. The global upheaval of Sept. 11, which quickly follows, only partially distracts the couple from their continuing marital crisis. After much bickering and recrimination, Dan pays a visit to ground zero--a pilgrimage that finally allows him to expiate his own resentment and fully forgive his repentant wife.

Although overly simplistic and at times crudely expository, that story serves as foreground for the essential business of the evening--a swirling, nonlinear treatment of Sept. 11. While Dan and Jodi are hashing out their own problems, actors eddy on-and offstage, dramatically re-creating familiar episodes from ground zero. A fireman searches for his missing brother in the rubble. A teacher at a school near the site describes the effect of the tragedy on her terrified students. The bereaved hold out posters of the missing, pleading for any information as hope fades.

The performers in the 9/11 scenes are a tightknit group, adept at monologues and ensemble scenes. Too often, however, Jack Kandel’s speciously stylistic staging hampers our emotional connection with the material. Kandel has the actors wear half masks throughout the action, a particularly onerous choice that sadly depersonalizes the characters and victims--perhaps the last thing that Kandel and his cast intended.

“September 10,” Lonny Chapman’s Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Sept. 14. $16. (818) 769-7529. Running time: 2 hours.