Dramaturgical
Guide by Avery Daniels
Interviews, Insights,
History, and More…
New York — Rhinebeck, the Hudson
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The Apple Family Plays
The Apple Family Plays are a series of four consecutive plays starring the Apple
Family and set during significant moments in modern American history. The first
play, That Hopey Changey Thing, is set in 2010 on the Tuesday of Election
Night. All of the plays debuted on the night that they were set,
and the politically charged atmospheres combine with the
familial drama to create shows that rang true to the honest
conversations happening in households across America.
In That Hopey Changey Thing, we meet a family who have
come together to commiserate about the always nerve racking air of Election
Night, and for their beloved Uncle Benjamin who has
suffered a heart attack that has resulted in severe
memory loss. The joy of all the plays is their ability to
honestly depict the relationships between family
members and how those dynamics combine with the
tumultuous state of political affairs.
The second play, Sweet and Sad, has a similar feeling of
commiseration and coming together at a tense moment
for many Americans, as it is set and debuted on the tenyear anniversary of 9/11. In this story, the characters
navigate the waters of grief, remembering, and
forgetting as Uncle Benjamin’s condition has worsened
and the family has recently suffered another tragedy.
This play delves into the complicated ways in which we memorialize the dead and
how the overwhelming process of grieving hangs in the air on certain days,
whether it is spoken or not.
The final two plays, Sorry and Regular Singing,
continue in this vein as the characters cope with their
deteriorating uncle, their own personal problems, and
the always troubling state of the nation. In depicting
this average (left-leaning) American household, Nelson
is able to beautifully represent the way we understand
and define ourselves through our families and the
American experience.
.
Notes on Dramaturgy
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The process of Dramaturgy is an intensely
personal and emotional experience. It’s
about finding a way “into” the play, or
finding where the world of the play overlaps
with my life experience, and understanding
how I can bring that into the world of the
characters. Sweet and Sad spoke to me on a
level unlike any other work depicting grief or
remembering. My dad died when I was six
and my best friend passed away when I was
thirteen, so I am no stranger to loss or the
process of remembering and speaking about
my beloved dead. In his note on the play,
Richard Nelson says that this work is about
the voice of the individual. What we hear in a
song, see on TV, or read in a book is all
valuable and affects the people onstage in a
very real way.
The stories that the characters bring to the
table and share with each other allow them to
work up to the big things, like dealing with
the passing of a family member or navigating
the loss of security that September eleventh
brings. In these small stories, the theater
remains a space to listen, to ask questions,
and understand the complexity of a shared
loss that each person experiences in their
own way. This is my “way in.” I recognize
these conversations circling loss and
remembering the little things that define the
reality of coping with something so profound
and overwhelming.
The grief in this play is communal and at the
same time intensely individual. The
characters don’t speak about what’s
happened in their family or 9/11 until almost
halfway through the show except in brief
mentions and loaded questions.
My Dad and I.
How true to the way we talk around the
ghosts in the room and let them hang in the
air until a blunt remark or casual comment
pulls them into the conversation. The
structure of the play as a whole mirrors this
kind of remembering. The characters agree
that in thinking of important events like 9/11
that it’s “one of those days…where it comes
in and out of your consciousness. Your head.
The anniversary.” This “in and out” or fluid
kind of memory is fully realized in the
conversations between the family.
One thing reminds someone of something
and that reminds someone else of something
and they interrupt the first person who is
interrupted by someone else and the topics
swirl and evolve naturally and get taken back
to their beginnings, or not. It doesn’t matter,
but somewhere in the anecdotes and
references the truth comes out. We see that
this is how we remember, and then forget,
until something triggers a memory or a story
and it all begins again. This “in and out” of
the familial conversations mirrors how we
remember, both milestone anniversaries and
our loved ones who have passed on. This is
how the Apple Family interacts, and their
conversations bring the audience into the
very process of remembering, making it a
communal act.
The familiarity of this dialogue is why the
play left me feeling heard, even though I
didn’t write it and I’m not in it. The play
washes over the audience in a way that is
beautifully simple and painfully familiar.
This is how I remember. This is how we
remember. –by Avery Daniels
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Interview with Sarah Newhouse
During the second week of
rehearsal, I sat down with actress
Sarah Newhouse who plays
Marian in the Gloucester Stage
production of Sweet and Sad. Her
nuanced portrayal of the second
oldest sister in the Apple family
never fails to make me emotional,
no matter how many times I see
her perform. Sarah exudes selfconfidence and control in her
work, and watching her become Marian every day has been an inspiring way to spend
these past weeks. Sarah and I talked about some of her favorite moments in the show
and what it’s been like playing the same character a year later in the second play of the
series.
What has it been like working with the same cast? Does it make the process
easier? More fun?
Yes! It’s been fantastic. We love each other. The best thing is that there’s nothing
unknown really, except navigating a new play; the characters are familiar, and the family
dynamic is familiar. So you can, kind of, get to work quicker. Working with the same
people gives you a great shorthand in the theater and it feels like we were a few steps
ahead this time around, in terms of how we understand our characters and how we
interact with each other.
What’s your favorite thing about the Apple family?
My favorite thing…I guess that they’re just like any family. They’re highly dysfunctional.
But there’s also a lot of love shared between them. Which is my favorite thing, I think.
What’s your “way into” the play? Or how do you connect with these shows
on a personal level?
The first play and this play, my track is so different. I mean the first play I’m very kind of
hard and opinionated and kind of aggressive in a certain way, and this play I’ve had a
huge change in my life. So, I guess, you always start with yourself as an actor and find
what you have in common with the person and then, you know, elevate them or
heighten them or expand on them. For this one, I’m a mother, I have a son. So it hasn’t
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really been that hard to identify
with Marian. Right now, my son is
transitioning and growing up and
I’m feeling the loss of his
childhood. Identifying with
Marian, then, is really not a
stretch. Even talking about it right
now makes me emotional. So
yeah, that’s my way in.
Do you have any particular
favorite moments in the show?
I really love the last moment of the show. Every single time I read it, I was just so moved
by it. That she’s acknowledging her loss but also kind of trying to make it really present
and in the moment. She’s taking it with her from here on out, instead of
compartmentalizing it, she’s creating a new way of thinking about what’s happened to
her. And I think sometimes it’s really hard to end a play and I just really love this
ending. I think it’s really simple and beautiful and I can be wherever I am, emotionally. I
don’t have to fabricate anything since it’s such a moving moment for Marian.
Has it been fun to play the same character in a new show?
Yes! I like this character. She’s tough and she’s not always the nicest person which
makes it really interesting to play her a second time around. It’s very rare, in theater to
have continuity that way. I’m also liking that there’s a year in between these plays. So
the focus for us is not so much about, oh my god, you wore this and your hair was like
that and you have to speak this way, there’s a bit of a change, I mean definitely in my
character there’s a change, so that it can be less about the little details and more about
how the characters are growing and impacted by big life events. We get to track how
these things affect them both apart and together. So yeah, it’s been a real treat to get to
play the same character.
What are you most excited for people to see or take away from the show?
I think this show is going to be really exciting for us and the audiences at Gloucester
because of the way the space is. At Stoneham, the theater is more removed from the
audience in a way, and in Gloucester they’re going to feel like they’re in the room with
us. I’m really excited about that because I think that these plays were written with that
kind of intimacy in mind. I love that, doing theater that’s really intimate. It’s going to be
great.
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Interview with the Director
Weylin Symes
During rehearsal, I was
lucky enough to grab a few
minutes with Weylin Symes,
the director of this
production of Sweet and Sad.
Being in the rehearsal room
with Weylin at the helm has
been an incredible
opportunity to see a director
sensitively create a world for
the cast and crew to express themselves, and respectfully give life to Richard Nelson’s
work. He and I talked about his interest in the Apple Family, what drew him to these
plays, and what it’s been like working with this kind of material a second time around.
What has it been like working with the same cast? Does it make the process
easier?
It’s been amazing. I’ve never done this before, working with the same people, not only
the same cast but playing the same characters, so it feels like we started the process,
about fifty percent of the way there. We knew who these people were, what there
relationships were, and not only that but they’re similar plays, so there’s a lot of little
technical things like eating food, serving food, cleaning up, that’s all really similar
between the two plays, so it felt like we were all like, “we know how to do that, we’ve
done that before.” So it made it tremendously easier to get to a level of detail in
moments so much faster, a depth of talking about what’s going on so much faster and so
much sooner then we normally would be able to. Like, on the first day of rehearsal we
were already talking about deep things and making connections that would normally
take, you know, ten days in the process to get to.
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Why the Apple Family? What drew
you to these plays?
I read the first one and was immediately
intrigued that it’s about a family. A family of
“grown-ups” or people in their forties and
fifties not just twenty somethings, and that
it was set in the suburbs, because in
Stoneham and in Gloucester, we’re in the
suburbs and I’m always looking for work
that speaks to people’s experiences who
Weylin takes a moment during rehearsal to discuss
the text with actresses Karen MacDonald and
don’t necessarily live in cities. Of course,
Laura Latreille.
some of the people in the Apple Family
Plays have a strong connection to New York City but that’s the first thing that drew me
in was that it felt like people who could be in our audience. And then I was also
attracted to the fact that it’s set “today” that these could be your neighbors, today, sitting
around the table talking. That was really interesting to me; how he wrote these plays.
That they are just ruthlessly natural and that is so hard to make something look this
naturalistic on stage because it’s not. Theater is never like that; it’s always artifice and to
make something look, feel, and seem so incredibly naturalistic, as if you’re just watching
people hanging out, is remarkably challenging. That combination of both having to
understand the blocking and the technical elements, while the text is embedded with
such weighty subjects is really incredible. Because of the naturalism in these plays, I find
that I cannot stage them in advance which is really different then a lot of the plays that I
work on. There are no land marks and all of the blocking comes out of what the
characters are doing. That means that you have to trust the process and say, well we’re
going to walk into rehearsal and figure this out.
What thematically are you hoping people take away from the show? What
do you hope comes out the second time around?
Well, I think this play does a beautiful job of looking at the tenth anniversary of 9/11
which is a tragedy for our country and a turning point in our country. Then the play
looks at that from the perspective of how do we mourn as a country, how do we mourn
our fellow citizens when something like this happens and then he brings that down to
how a single person or a single family unit mourns the loss of a loved one. Richard
Nelson compares those two and that’s what I think all four of these plays do brilliantly;
they look at the world as a whole, or the country as a whole and they try and bring it
down to the personal and show how those two things connect or don’t connect. The way
that he does his exposition, compared to most plays, is very gradual. He very
intentionally makes the audience take ten, fifteen, thirty minutes before they
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understand basic relationships to make it even more
true to life and to the way we speak.
How has it been different directing the second
play in the series?
Oh it’s just easier. So much easier because not only is
it the same characters and the same actors but it’s
largely the same set. We reconfigured it a bit for this
new space, but essentially it’s the same. So not only
do we know each other as actors, directors, and
designers, but these characters already know each
other and know their histories and have explored
them a lot and we know how to manipulate and walk
through this space and what the options are. So it
Weylin and Laura take a moment to
makes it tremendously easier because it feels like we
talk about blocking.
got to walk into a room from day one already knowing
a huge amount of what we need to do to make this happen. And a show like this, with
these actors, honestly, a huge part of my job is just getting out of the way. They are so
strong that I need to let them explore and point out if something really feels like it’s not
helping to tell the story or if there are ways to clarify what they're doing, but they’re so
good and now they know these characters so well that I’m just there as a guide.
What is your “way into” the play? Or how do you connect with these shows
on a personal level?
Oh that’s easy. Again the family thing. That I am really interested in this idea that not
enough of theater is about families, when a lot of the audience who come to theater,
unless you’re in a very small subset, a lot of the audience, they’re families. So any theater
that speaks to that, I’m immediately interested in. But I also, myself, am interested in
where the personal meets the political. I don’t like political plays, but I also don’t
necessarily want a play that is just so much about one person that I can’t relate it to
anything else. These plays are constantly saying to us, look at the world at large, and
look at your own life, and see where those two are connected or how they are connected
and that I find really exciting.
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On Richard Nelson: Playwright
Richard Nelson was born on October
17th, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. His mother,
Viola, was a dancer and his father, Richard
Finis Nelson, was an accounting-systems
analyst and sometimes a sales
representative.
As a child his family moved frequently to
accommodate his father’s job and lived
many places before finally settling in the
midwest. The search for home and a sense of place is prevalent throughout Nelson’s
work. In an interview,1 Nelson says that almost every play he’s written could be entitled,
Home. Now 63, Nelson lives in Rhinebeck, NY with his wife and their two daughters.
Rhinebeck has greatly influenced Nelson in writing the Apple Family Plays. Pictured
below with what he thinks of as “Barbara’s house,” he says that for him his connection
with Rhinebeck “makes everything extremely personal…like when Marian says she hears
the squeal of a school bus on Market
Street—I know exactly what she is
hearing…And that leads, I hope, to
an honesty, clarity, and simplicity in
the writing and for the audience”2
Nelson is a prolific writer and served
as Chair of the playwriting
department at the Yale School of
Drama from 2005-2008. His
adaptation of August Strindberg’s
Miss Julie premiered at the Yale
Repertory Theatre that March. About the position, Nelson stated that “Playwriting in
America is at a crossroads. As Chairman of the Yale School of Drama’s distinguished
Department of Playwriting and as a working playwright, I hope not only to identify and
encourage talented young writers, but also generate a serious discussion about the place
of the playwright in the theatre today.” Nelson’s body of work is extensive and includes
Rodney's Wife, Franny's Way, Madame Melville, Goodnight Children Everywhere, The
General From America, New England, Principia Scriptoria, Between East and West,
Life Sentences, The Return of Pinocchio, Rip Van Winkle or The Works, Jungle Coup,
The Apple Family Plays, Frank’s Home, and many other works. He also provided the
book for the musicals My Life with Albertine, Chess, and James Joyce's The Dead which
won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.
1
http://brooklynrail.org/2007/02/theater/wrighting-home
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/theater/richard-nelsons-rhinebeck-ny-stars-in-apple-plays.html
2
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History of Rhinebeck
Rhinebeck was founded in 1686 as the result of
a significant land transaction between four
Dutchman and six Native Americans from the
Esopus and Sepasco tribes. In the beginning, the
Dutch settlers called their community
Kipsbergen and the name “Ryn Beck,” meaning
“brooke of the rhine” wasn’t officially presented as the town’s name until 1713. In 1703,
Henry Beekman obtained a patent for the town of Kipsbergen and saw the need for
development. He began to settle the land and, that year, the Colonial Congress approved
the construction of the King’s Highway which put Rhinebeck on the map.
A decade later, Beekman’s son brought in 35 Germans
who had fled religious persecution at home. With the
new arrivals, the village grew. New trades were
established and in 1733 the first Reformed Dutch
Church was built at the same site that the current one
stands today. In the mid-1770s, a former solider
named Richard Montgomery moved into the
Rhinebeck village. He had just settled into life as a
farmer when the American Revolution began. He was
commissioned as a general in the Continental Army, and died at the end of 1775.
Montgomery’s cottage still stands and the street was later named in his honor.
After independence, the village continued to grow. The town of Rhinebeck, which
contains the village, was organized in 1788. To this day, Rhinebeck is a beautiful historic
area in Northern Dutchess County. Easily accessible by Amtrak, the town is located 100
miles north of New York City. It boasts 437 National
Historic Register sites and eight miles of an area
known as “The Sixteen Mile Historic District.” The
district is composed of thirty contiguous riverfront
estates associated with the landed aristocracy in the
Hudson Valley.
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“Up the Hudson”
The Apple family discusses the history that’s taken place along the Hudson River as
Jane says that “most of American history flowed up that river.” She was right. The
Hudson has been the sight of many historic moments throughout American history. In
1996 Congress formed the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in order to
recognize, preserve, protect, and interpret the nationally significant history and
resources of the valley for the benefit of the nation.
• “The Underground Railroad” —The
Hudson River was one of the main
arteries of the Underground Railroad.
Fugitives were transported from
Philadelphia to New York and then up
through the valley to Albany and Troy.
Rhinebeck
“The Mills Mansion” — Darius Ogden Mills
established the family fortune in California in
the decades following the Gold Rush. He
invested in the banks, railroads, and other
businesses associated with the gold and silver
mines of California and Nevada. The mansion is
an elegant example of the great estates built by
America’s financial and industrial leaders from
1876 to 1917.
• “Bannerman’s Castle” — At the site of Bannerman’s
Castle on Pollelpel Island an attempt was made to
thwart the British in 1777 and protect the American
Highlands. Here they constructed “cheveux de frise”
or devices made of wooden cribs sunken in the river,
filled with metal-tipped, pointed logs to obstruct the
passage of ships up the river by damaging their hulls.
The attempt was ultimately unsuccessful as the
British were using flat bottom boats and were able to
avoid the cheveux de frise.
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Ghosts at the Belasco
In the play, Tim tells a story about a ghostly chorus girl
who touches his shoulder and spooks the Apples. This
ghost does have a history at the Belasco. A chorus girl fell
down the little elevator shaft to her death and the rumor is
that she haunts the theater to this day. She is often seen
wearing a blue dress and to appease her, every production
at the theatre is supposed to feature at least one actress
wearing a blue dress. A particularly haunting sighting of
the “Blue Lady” was reported by an actress while in the
shower. She said that she heard a locked door in her
dressing room open; she darted out of the shower to
confront the intruder, only to find that the door was still
locked. The bathroom was, however, suffused with a
strange blue glow.
The ghost more commonly associated with the Belasco is
David Belasco himself. Those who work at the theater have
reported seeing “The Bishop of Broadway” since his death
in 1931. He has been seen in the upstairs apartment, the offices of the theater, and on
the balcony observing shows.
One usher was so troubled by the ghost that she still refuses to work at the Belasco ever
again. She was closing up the lobby one night and playfully called out, “Goodnight, Mr.
Belasco.” The exterior doors were pulled shut and there was no wind, and even so, all
the outer lobby doors swung open silently and in unison. After that she asked to be
transferred and still won’t go back. Tim’s description of Belasco’s apartment is accurate
and the stories about him entertaining female
guests are also true. The apartments are sights of
ghostly mischief as well. The theater manager
reports often hearing footsteps above her even
though the rooms are locked and there is a motion
sensor outside the door. There is another rumor
that right after Belasco died; people said that they
heard the sounds of a raucous party going on
when, of course, there was not one.
Today, Belasco’s apartments remain unrenovated and in disrepair.
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Oscar Wilde in Prison
“Do you become Oscar Wilde in prison?” (Barbara, 45) — The poem that she is most
likely referring to is called “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” written when Wilde was
incarcerated.
Wilde went back and forth between trying to hide his personal life and trying to gain
some measure of acceptance. When the father of one of his lovers began spouting his
objections of Wilde’s life to the public, Wilde attempted to sue him for libel. However, in
his defense, Douglas, the man Wilde was suing, argued that Wilde had solicited ten boys
in the act of “sodomy” between 1892-1894. After that the crown issued a warrant for
Wilde’s arrest on indecency charges. He stood trial and lost and was convicted to two
years hard labor. Wilde served his time and died three years later in exile in Paris.
Oscar Wilde and his lover in 1863.
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The Ballad of Reading Gaol: An Excerpt
He did not wear his scarlet coat,
For blood and wine are red,
And blood and wine were on his hands
When they found him with the dead,
The poor dead woman whom he loved,
And murdered in her bed.
He walked amongst the Trial Men
In a suit of shabby grey;
A cricket cap was on his head,
And his step seemed light and gay;
But I never saw a man who looked
So wistfully at the day.
I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky,
And at every drifting cloud that went
With sails of silver by.
I walked, with other souls in pain,
Within another ring,
And was wondering if the man had done
A great or little thing,
When a voice behind me whispered low,
‘That fellow’s got to swing.’
Dear Christ! the very prison walls
Suddenly seemed to reel,
And the sky above my head became
Like a casque of scorching steel;
And, though I was a soul in pain,
My pain I could not feel.
I only knew what hunted thought
Quickened his step, and why
He looked upon the garish day
With such a wistful eye;
The man had killed the thing he loved,
And so he had to die.
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Sinterklaas Parade
The Apple’s discuss this Rhinebeck tradition which comes from the Dutch settlers who
arrived in the village over 300 years ago. The festival is based on the Dutch tale of
Sinterklaas and the Grumpus in which Sinterklaas (St.Nicholos) rides down the street
on a white steed. Accompanied by the Grumpus, a half man half beast, the two give bags
of goodies to well behaved children. To the naughty children, the Grumpus rattles his
chains and threatens to steal them away in his sack. The children who were not as
naughty are merely beaten with a switch by the Grumpus. The modern parade, however,
takes the switch and uses it as a symbol of art and empowerment for the children of the
town instead of as a punishment. During the parade the children are crowned as Kings
and Queens for the day. http://www.sinterklaashudsonvalley.com/the-story/
The Grumpuses or “wild men” are Sinterklaas’s sidekicks who
today bring candy to the children of the town.
Paper mache kings add
to the pageantry of the
ceremonies.
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Walt Whitman’s “The Wound Dresser"
A
“ n old man bending I come among new faces,
Years looking backward resuming in answer to children,
Come tell us old man, as from young men and maidens that love me,
(Arous’d and angry, I’d thought to beat the alarum, and urge relentless war,
But soon my fingers fail’d me, my face droop’d and I resign’d myself,
To sit by the wounded and soothe them, or silently watch the dead;)…
Thus in silence in dreams’ projections,
Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals,
The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand,
I sit by the restless all the dark night, some are so young,
Some suffer so much, I recall the experience sweet and sad,
(Many a soldier’s loving arms about this neck have cross’d and rested,
Many a soldier’s kiss dwells on these bearded lips.)”
This poem informs Sweet and Sad in
that it combines the personal with the political
through an individual opinion. The speaker’s
experience is “sweet and sad” in the poem as is
the experience of the characters and the
audience. We laugh with the family, we feel the
emotional tug for both Uncle Benjamin and
Marian’s tragedies, and we are a part of the
process of remembering and then forgetting
and then remembering, again, the importance
of this day.
The loss of life and limb portrayed in the
poem also parallels the pieces of Benjamin’s
memory that have died or become infected and
useless. In having Uncle Benjamin read this poem, the poignancy of this battle torn
memory coupled with the speaker giving advice to a younger generation gives Benjamin
a way to tell his family the gravity of his loss. He is able to look at his beloved nieces and
nephews and in this moment the tables turn. The siblings stop talking around and about
Benjamin and the equilibrium of the wise teaching the young is restored. Finally,
Benjamin is heard. He is respected and the moment is indeed both “sweet and sad” as
we watch this venerable actor find himself in Whitman’s words.
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Glossary
• Duruflé’s Réquiem — The Requiem, op.9, by Maurice Duruflé was published in
1947. It is dedicated to Duruflé’s father and incorporated themes from Gregorian
chants, especially the Gregorian “Mass for the Dead.” The Kyrie indicated the start of
Movement II in the composer’s arrangement for the choir and the organ. Link to
listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbIiuMxG2Y0
• The Kyrie — A common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy. The phrase
is the origin of the Jesus Prayer. As early as the sixth century, there were differences in
the way eastern and western churches sang Kyrie. In the eastern churches all sing it at
the same time, while in the western church the clergy sing it and the people respond.
In the Tridentine Mass, the Kyrie is the first sung prayer in the Order of Mass. It is
usually part of any musical setting of the Mass. Kyrie movements usually have an ABA
or ternary structure that reflects the symmetrical structure of the text.
• General Lafayette – The Marquis de Lafayette was a
French aristocrat who joined the Revolutionary War effort
at his own request. He quickly became close with George
Washington and was recognized for his passion and valor.
Due to his partial funding of the cause, he became a high
ranking officer. After the war ended Lafayette retired to
France, was briefly imprisoned due to his staunch
opposition of Napoleon Bonaparte, but was then able to
oblige the American government with a visit to the States
for his honorary ride up the Hudson.
• “Once more unto the breach” – This rousing quote from
Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth, Act 3, Scene 1, 1-6. In this scene
Henry V has led his army over the channel to invade France.
This speech typifies Henry’s ability to play on his men’s
masculinity and patriotism to spur them over the wall and into a
battle they are losing.
• “Wake the Dead” – From the Tony award winning, James
Joyce’s The Dead. Written by Richard Nelson.
• Schubert’s the Trout – The Trout Quintet was composed in
1819 by Franz Schubert. This work contains long repetitive stretches and is one of
Schubert’s more leisurely works.
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• Phillipe Petit – In 1974 Phillipe Petit, a French
high wire artist, illegally tight rope walked between
the unfinished Twin Towers. About this decision to
take on such a daunting task Petit said “They called
me. I didn't choose them. Anything that is giant
and manmade strikes me in an awesome way and
calls me. I could secretly put my wire between the
highest towers in the world. It was something that
had to be done, and I couldn't explain it... it was a calling of the romantic type.”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/newyorktightrope/
• “Candy Spills” – Created by Felix-Gonzalez Torres, the Candy Spills are piles of
candy heaped on the floor and the public are encouraged to take a piece as they pass
by. The process is a living memorial for those dying from AIDS and is meant to
eventually disappear. On this, Torres states “I need the public to complete the work. I
ask the public to help me, to take responsibility, to become part of my work, to join
in." The memorial evokes a sense of loss and impermanence while connecting the
public to the artist, the victims, and to each other. While the artist admits it is difficult
giving his work an expiration date he emphasizes the power of the communal
experience of watching something beautiful, unique, and important disappear.
Source: http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artists/2667#ixzz3ZrLkphht
• The National September 11th Memorial Museum – Now completed the
museum is open to the public. The Museum’s mission is to serve “as the country’s
principal institution for examining the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting
the impact of those events and exploring the continuing significance of September 11,
2001.” http://www.911memorial.org/about-museum
• “WOW” or Windows on the
World – Restaurant complex located
on the 106th and 107th floor of the
North Tower. When the first plane hit
the North Tower the restaurant was
opened for regular breakfast service
and was hosting the Risk Waters
Financial Technology Congress in the
board room. Everyone in the
restaurant was cut off from the
stairwell when American Airlines
Flight 11 hit the North Tower and
eventually perished that day.
• The Visit – A tragicomic play by Swiss dramatist Friedrich Durrenmatt. One of the
main themes of the play is “buying justice” by asking the question of the corruptibility
of justice by asking whether it can be bought in return for material wealth. Tim’s
19
interpretation that the main character is in fact an allegory for Mayor Bloomberg is a
clear parallel to his corrupt and suspicious push for legislation that would allow him to
be mayor for a third term.
• Mayor Bloomberg – Michael Bloomberg is a
billionaire businessman and three time mayor of New York
City. He first ran for office in 2001 and beat the democratic
candidate for mayor. He was sworn in less than two weeks
after the September 11th attacks. Controversially, in 2008
Bloomberg used 90 million of his own money to push
through legislation that allowed him to stay in office for a
third term as mayor. He cited the economic climate and his
particular skills in money management to justify the
movement. Public opinion of Bloomberg in 2011 was
generally low and many New Yorkers believed that he did
not deliver on the promises he made regarding his time in
office.
• Charles Rangel –Democratic NY Congressman “Charlie” Rangel was accused of
renting Harlem apartments below market value which could be constituted as a “gift”
of $30,000 exceeding the $100 House gift limit, failing to pay $60,000 worth of taxes
on his Dominican Republic home, leaving a million dollar tax loophole open to a
company that donated to his campaign, and failing to report assets and income on his
taxes. In 2010, a House ethics committee found him guilty of all accusations.
• Elizabeth Warren – Democratic Senator from Massachusetts. In 2011 the former
Harvard Law Professor helped design the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The
main goal of the CFPB was preventing consumers from signing up for risky loans. She
stepped down from the agency in August 2011 and in September 2011 she was
appointed as special assistant to Barack Obama.
• Andrew Cuomo – The 56th Governor of New York. He began his Career working for
his father Mario Cuomo the 52nd Governor of New York. He won the election in 2010
and is known for focusing on LGBT rights, women’s rights, and economic stimulus in
New York. He is known for his efficiency in moving along important legislation
including a state law legalizing gay marriage.
• Oklahoma City Bombing – (p.79) The
worst terrorist attack to occur on US soil
before 9/11. On April 15th, 1995 a 5,000
pound bomb exploded outside of the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. It
killed 168 people, 19 of which were children.
20
9/11 Timeline
• 8:19am — Flight attendants aboard Flight 11 alert
ground personnel that the plane has been hijacked;
American Airlines notifies the FBI.
• 8:20 am – American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from
Dulles International Airport outside of Washington,
D.C. The Boeing 757 is headed to Los Angeles with 64
people aboard.
• 8:24 am – Hijacker Mohammed Atta makes the first of
two accidental transmissions from Flight 11 to ground
control (apparently in an attempt to communicate with
the plane’s cabin).
• 8:40 am – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
alerts North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD)’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS)
about the suspected hijacking of Flight 11. In response,
NEADS scrambles two fighter planes located at Cape
Cod’s Otis Air National Guard Base to locate and tail
Flight 11; they are not yet in the air when Flight 11
crashes into the North Tower.
• 8:41 am – United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with
44 people aboard, takes off from Newark International
Airport en route to San Francisco. It had been
scheduled to depart at 8:00 am, around the time of the
other hijacked flights.
• 8:46 am – Mohammed Atta and the other hijackers
aboard American Airlines Flight 11 crash the plane into
floors 93-99 of the North Tower of the World Trade
Center, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside
the building.
• 8:47 am – Within seconds, NYPD and FDNY forces
dispatch units to the World Trade Center, while Port
Authority Police Department officers on site begin
immediate evacuation of the North Tower.
• 9:02 am – After initially instructing tenants of the
WTC’s South Tower to remain in the building, Port
Authority officials broadcast orders to evacuate both
towers via the public address system; an estimated
10,000 to 14,000 people are already in the process of
evacuating.
• 9:03 am – Hijackers crash United Airlines Flight 175
into floors 75-85 of the WTC’s South Tower, killing
everyone on board and hundreds inside the building
• 9:31 am – Speaking from Florida, President Bush calls
the events in New York City an “apparent terrorist
attack on our country.”
• 9:37 am – Hijackers aboard Flight 77 crash the plane
into the western façade of the Pentagon in Washington,
D.C., killing 59 aboard the plane and 125 military and
civilian personnel inside the building.
• 9:08 am – The FAA bans all takeoffs of flights going to
New York City or through the airspace around the city.
• 9:42 am – For the first time in history, the FAA
grounds all flights over or bound for the continental
United States. Some 3,300 commercial flights and
1,200 private planes are guided to airports in Canada
and the United States over the next two-and-a-half
hours.
• 9:45 am – Amid escalating rumors of other attacks, the
White House and U.S. Capitol building are evacuated
(along with numerous other high-profile buildings,
landmarks and public spaces).
• 9:59 am – The South Tower of the World Trade Center
collapses.
• 10:07 am – After passengers and crew members
aboard the hijacked Flight 93 contact friends and
family and learn about the attacks in New York and
Washington, they mount an attempt to retake the
plane. In response, hijackers deliberately crash the
plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania,
killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard.
• 10:28 am – The World Trade Center’s North Tower
collapses, 102 minutes after being struck by Flight 11.
• 11 am – Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for the
evacuation of Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street,
including more than 1 million residents, workers and
tourists, as efforts continue throughout the afternoon
to search for survivors at the WTC site.
• 1 pm – From a U.S. Air Force base in Louisiana,
President Bush announces that U.S. military forces are
on high alert worldwide.
• 2:51 pm – The U.S. Navy dispatches missile destroyers
to New York and Washington, D.C.
• 5:20 pm – The 47-story Seven World Trade Center
collapses after burning for hours; the building had
been evacuated in the morning, and there are no
casualties, though the collapse forces rescue workers to
flee for their lives.
• 6:58 pm – President Bush returns to the White House
after stops at military bases in Louisiana and
Nebraska.
• 8:30 pm – President Bush addresses the nation,
calling the attacks “evil, despicable acts of terror” and
declaring that America, its friends and allies would
“stand together to win the war against terrorism.”