“The Duration” portrays an enemy without definition, without end

[As [published in Wet Palm Beach Magazine]

In the days and weeks after 9/11, walking around town felt like a small act of boldness. You didn’t know if more attacks were coming. Every truck and building presented another likely bomb sighting or possible strike. Everywhere you looked, you imagined a potential enemy hiding or lurking somewhere. A taxi ride was more than anyone could handle, and a plane flight? Forget about it.

Each morning, as I emerged from my car and walked across the parking lot and into the classroom with my five-year-old, I felt a tiny surge of apprehension and also, relief. But all the time thinking, “When would the next strike occur?”

Everybody has a story about 9/11 and “The Duration,” a play by Bruce Graham, which made its world premiere at Palm Beach Dramaworks last Friday, resurfaced many sad memories. “That was intense,” a woman said as she exited the theater. And I can just imagine the conversation in the car on the way home.

Directed by J. Barry Lewis, the play showcases a small but talented cast. Elizabeth (Beth) Dimon plays Audrey Botten, a noted historian, history professor, writer, mother, a widower. She’s smart and sarcastic, the kind who always has the answer to everything. She’s known as someone who has met the world with her head, with knowledge and facts. And now, she’s in the middle of something she can’t figure out with her head. Her husband of many years has been killed by a drunken driver. But as tragic as that sounds, that’s not all. Her beloved son Eddie was one of the victims who died in one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001. —Read more