Father Mychal Judge’s lifeless body being carried away from the destruction. Bodies floating beside burning buildings resembling chunks of debris. A sobbing New Yorker realizing their city will never be the same. President Bush’s grim reading of Psalm 23:4.
Though we’re united in our knowledge of what happened, each of us is haunted differently by the separate pieces of 9/11. The death toll of nearly 3,000 in one day may be a statistic to most, but for a hallowed group of living Americans, their recollections of the attacks are centered around one theme—the loss of a loved one. Director, actor, writer and esteemed professor D.V. Caitlyn became fascinated with the disturbing and insanely private little dark corners the event must have created. His findings created the complicated plot of his latest play, Capture. A combination of police procedural and thriller, it follows an obscure investigation of emotional and psychological strength under extreme circumstances, and the effects of human guilt and sorrow when allowed to go unattended for too long.
Ivan Zsczur (pronounced Schtoor) lost his wife that September morning. More than a decade later, he’s still haunted by the fact that it was his fault she was in Tower One at the time. His never-ending mourning and guilt crafts an unexpected path toward forgiveness and redemption. It is Zsczur’s bold pursuit which brings in Homicide Detective Joe Mazmanian and Medical Examiner Steve Boudreau.
When a body surfaces on the streets of the city, bearing no identification and an unusual set of wounds, Boudreau is convinced that what they are seeing is early evidence of a serial killer—a theory reinforced by the discovery of another body strikingly similar to the first.
Journalist and 9/11 survivor Phil Zito soon inserts himself aggressively into the situation, unaware that a nightmare awaits. Zsczur has contacted Zito a number of times under the façade of participating in a documentary focused on 9/11 survivors, partially prompted by the 10-year anniversary. Soon after he agrees, Zito suddenly disappears without explanation, bringing agonizing memories from a sorrowful past back for his wife, Sara, who is also Mazmanian’s sister.
Mazmanian pursues all available avenues to locate his missing brother-in-law, and Sara slowly shatters from the effects of not knowing what happened to her husband. Meanwhile, a still-living Zito is drawn in for a first-hand glimpse of Zsczur’s tortured perceptions of past and present, and is forced to participate in Zsczur’s disturbing and grief-driven pursuit of redemption and forgiveness.
D.V. details that he drew his inspiration from several sources, but mainly the “ongoing impact of the events of September 11, 2001, both on New Yorkers and American society as a whole since we, as a nation, first pushed ourselves back up onto our feet in the aftermath of the attacks.”
“I sent Act I to a few close friends whose opinions I value very highly, having decided that pending their responses I would either finish or not,” he further explains “word coming back was unanimous—not only should I finish, I was told I must finish. Capture was completed in January of 2012.”
Please read an excerpt, here.
WARNING: Explicit and coarse language are present in this play and excerpt. For mature audiences only.
Capture is currently seeking its premiere production with a professional company. If interested, please contact Southern Influence, courtney.tomlinson@ngleisure.com, or D.V. directly at dvcaitlyn@email.wcu.edu.
D.V. is an assistant professor of acting and directing at Western Carolina University. His performance credits include numerous theater, film, and television productions in New York, Los Angeles and other areas. He has written 16 full-length screenplays, along with numerous shorts.
Southern Influence is proud to present Atlanta’s own (Eric) E.E. Borton, author of “Abomination”, “Suffer” and now, “Without”. Enjoy the food of Varasano’s and the music of Dallas Ryle at a book signing party like no other you’ve ever attended!
Southern Influence wants to find the best Spokesmodels in the Southeast to participate in paid and/or career enhancing projects. Come join us as we sample the great food of Jeffrey Varasano and listen to the music of guitarist Dallas Ryle!
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