?The Guys? returns to Durango
First play about 9/11 continues to resonate

by Judith Reynolds

he last time “The Guys” played Durango (Sept. 1, 2005), it was a whirlwind affair. Time was short, and little publicity announced the arrival. Equity actors Wendie Malick and Dan Lauria performed this two-character drama to small but enthralled audiences in the Abbey Theatre. As per custom from the beginning, the performance was a benefit. Last fall’s proceeds went to the Silverton San Juan Volunteer Fire Department and Country Kids with Cancer.

Now Malick and Lauria are back. They will perform the work two nights only: March 17 and 18, on the main stage at Fort Lewis College. Proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund of the FLC Drama Department.

Written by Anne Nelson, “The Guys” grew out of personal experience. Following the tragedy of 9/11, Nelson, a seasoned journalist turned Columbia University professor, met a New York City fire captain with an unusual request. He urgently needed to craft eulogies for eight firefighters lost in the collapse of the Twin Towers. Traumatized himself, he could barely talk about the loss let alone write something appropriate. Could an experienced journalist help him?

Nelson agreed. After a series of interviews, she wrote the eulogies, using the captain’s own words, recreating his “voice.”

“It was painful to ask him questions,” Nelson said in a Columbia University news release, “and it was painful to hear the answers.”

“It was painful to ask him questions,” Nelson said in a Columbia University news release, “and it was painful to hear the answers.”

Nelson’s play also evolved by accident. In the aftermath of 9/11, she met an off-Broadway theater director who passionately wanted to help people deal with the tragedy. She described her experience, and the director urged her to set it down in dramatic form. Never having written a play before, but used to the process of deep research and news writing based on interviews, Nelson completed a script in nine days. She could hardly believe it herself: “It just flowed out,” she said in an interview at the time.

She quickly sent her first draft to the director, and he didn’t hesitate. “The Guys” opened at the Flea Theatre, a few blocks from Ground Zero, on Dec. 4, 2001. It featured the director’s wife, Sigourney Weaver, and a close friend, Bill Murray. Since then, name actors across the country have brought the play to both coasts and the hinterlands.

Malick and Lauria have played the roles of Joan and Nick many times. Local publicity materials focus on their TV credentials: Malick’s role in “Just Shoot Me,” Lauria in “The Wonder Years.” It’s more interesting to learn that Malick and Lauria each have a social conscience. For example, Malick

serves on many boards: the Environmental Media Association, Advocates for Planned Parenthood, and The Humane Society. She and her husband, Richard Erickson, support a medical center in the Congo and a women’s shelter in Tijuana. Lauria is particularly active developing new American plays. He established the Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble in Los Angeles to introduce new writers to the Hollywood scene. To date, he has organized more than 450 public readings using major actors. Fifty of those plays have been published or gone on to Equity productions.

“The Guys” runs 90 minutes without intermission. Lauria and Malick do justice to the script and are perfectly cast. He’s a warm, bear of a guy who deeply mourns the loss of colleagues and friends. She is a smart and sensitive journalist who knows how to ask tough questions. The story begins with a telling reminder of 9/ll, then Joan, Nelson’s writer-editor, tells the story of meeting Nick, the fire captain. And lest you think the play is all darkness, Nelson spins the central tale while building a friendship based on respect and shared experience. In the middle, a few moments of lightness also remind us that life goes on. All I’ll say about the ending is that it is strong and gives meaning to all that has gone before. •