The 29 Questions Project

Since September 11, 2001, artists across New York have been trying to make sense of that tragic day and its larger ramifications. Many people have been holding their breath for the first “great” play about 9/11 — one with enough insight and political sophistication to speak to the bruised hearts of most New Yorkers as well as fears and misgivings about the ways in which our country and the world has reacted. Some plays (e.g., Omnium Gatherum) tried to provide lots of answers only to appear overwrought and self-aggrandizing. Not so with the Bull Family Orchestra’s The 29 Questions Project, one of the most heartfelt and enjoyable shows on the subject that I’ve seen.

The production consists of four vignettes. The title work, Hillary Rollins’s 29 Questions, is based on e-mail correspondence between the playwright and a friend who died in the 9/11 attacks. Katie Bull, who co-directs with Kathryn Alexander, offers companion pieces that concern a Pakistani cab driver and his nervous passenger (“Message from the Driver”); a college activist and an American G.I. (“Arm”); and an encounter between a college tourist and a Palestinian student in the 1980s (“Hand”). Live music accompanies all of the pieces, courtesy of Yoel Ben Simhon on the oud (an Arabic stringed instrument that predates the European lute) and Ayelet Rose Gottleib on percussion; both musicians also provide soulful vocals in music from Pakistan, Israel, and Palestine.

More than serving as a soundtrack for the show, the music speaks the emotional language of the stories. During a scene that that takes place near the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the musicians play a blend of Hebrew and Muslim prayers, giving us a glimpse of a peaceful coexistence between the two peoples. The venue for this production — an Israeli-owned restaurant called Yaffa’s T Room, located blocks away from Ground Zero — is charming and appropriate. The intimate atmosphere, coupled with the music (and the restaurant’s first-rate Chianti), is intoxicating.

The first scene depicts a cab ride one month after the attacks, during which a woman (Heather Oakley) tells her driver (David Dartley) her thoughts about the tragedy. In return, the driver reveals some information — too much for the woman’s comfort. Although it recreates the atmosphere of suspicion that followed the bombing, this vignette never feels quite as dangerous or surprising as it should.

Next comes the eponymous play about two friends communicating by e-mail from opposite coasts. Allison Wright plays a cynical writer living on the West Coast, responding to an e-mail chain letter from her friend Laura (Patricia Hart). As she fills out the annoying survey, it becomes more meaningful and eventually becomes her final memory of her friend, for reasons disclosed in the play. Both actresses give natural, stirring performances and the direction here is strong. Gottlieb’s percussion mimics the sounds of typing — a beautiful touch.

“Arm” begins with a protester (Lillian Medville) abandoning a Washington, D.C. rally to marvel at the city’s botanical gardens. Dressed in tweed pants and a hemp pullover, the easily distracted character represents an image that risks making protest appear quaint at a time when it’s very much necessary. However, the actress playing her has so much talent and personality that she revitalizes what could have been a stereotype. Her placard carries a smart and funny anti-war slogan — “Hey Bush, Send the Twins!” — scribbled with a pastel marker.

Katie Bull’s ingrained optimism works well in the second half of “Arm,” which dramatizes a television reporter’s interview with an American G.I. in the Iraqi desert. The soldier, played by Michael Robinson, is a good country boy from Birmingham, Alabama with a lizard that helps carry the regiment’s ammunition. The idea of a reptile as the army mascot is cute but the belt of bullets that the animal wears adds an ominous tone to the scene. In focusing on the emotional connection between the soldier and his unlikely pet, the playwright makes the image even more effective.

The last piece, “Hand,” follows an American girl (Ashley Lambert) lost in the Moslem quarter of Jerusalem during the summer of 1984, as Israel’s disastrous war with Lebanon inflamed Middle Eastern tensions while jumpstarting the country’s anti-war movement. It’s a terrible time for the student to be stranded in this part of the city, and the dress that she wears — exposing her arms and legs — only makes the situation more volatile. A young Palestinian boy (Matt Sadewitz) tells her as much and tells her to hold his hand so that he can lead her to safety. The story focuses on her struggle to trust the Palestinian and make it back to the Western Wall to meet her Israeli friend.

Some of the acting and writing of The 29 Questions Project stresses sentiment over character and political content. Still, it would take a cynical heart not to be affected by the warmth that the Bull Family Orchestra radiates and a deaf ear not to listen to the troupe’s honest and important questions.