''The Mercy Seat'' is a 2002

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, '' In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance F ...

that was among the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Set on September 12, it concerns Ben, a man who worked at the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

but was away from the office during the attack, with his mistress, Abby, who is also his boss. Expecting that his family believes that he was killed in the towers' collapse, Ben contemplates using the tragedy to run away and start a new life with his lover.

Inspiration

Though urban legends of a similar adulterous situation circulated at the time, LaBute has said he was actually inspired to write the play when, after the events of September 11, his flight from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

was cancelled and he had to take a 21-hour train ride. LaBute explained to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that he thought, "This is inconvenient.... ndI remember thinking, 'Ooh, that's not a very good thought to have.' I knew it wasn't right, but the thought had already come out."

Productions

New York

''The Mercy Seat'' premiered Off-Broadway at the Acorn Theatre in an MCC Theater production on December 18, 2002 and closed on January 15, 2003. Directed by LaBute, the cast starred

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...

and

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gramm ...

.''The Mercy Seat''
lortel.org, accessed May 10, 2015Hernandez, Ernio
"Neil LaBute's 'Mercy Seat' Opens Off-Broadway, Dec. 18"
playbill.com, December 18, 2002 It was both a commercial and critical success (it sold out for the length of its run). The play, which "requires almost a nonstop output of high-octane emotion," was an emotionally draining experience for Weaver and Schreiber. Weaver (who had already appeared in the 9/11-themed play '' The Guys'') admitted that "It takes its toll....It's hard to be that rough to each other, it's hard to be those characters, and it's hard to be that rough to the world situation....But I must say, as well as shocking,

he play He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

was funny. And necessary." Schreiber, who stepped in to play Ben after frequent LaBute collaborator

Aaron Eckhart Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his h ...

proved unavailable, was deeply affected by his character's flaws, saying, "Doing this part, I feel, well, shadier. Not that I'm doing anything shady. It's like trying to shake off an itch that's not really there."

London

''The Mercy Seat'' was produced at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

in November 2003, directed by

Michael Attenborough Michael John Attenborough (born 13 February 1950) is an English theatre director. Background Attenborough was born on 13 February 1950 in London, the only son of actress Sheila Sim and actor-director Richard Attenborough. He is the nephew ...

, with Sinead Cusack and John Hannah.

Lima

''The Mercy Seat'' was performed in Lima, Perú during June 2008, in a Spanish translation entitled ''Misericordia'', starring Mónica Sánchez and Gonzalo Molina.

Rio de Janeiro

''The Mercy Seat'' was produced, in Portuguese translation by Gustavo Klein as ''Marco Zero'', in a production directed by Ivan Sugahara, and with Letícia Isnard and Tárik Puggina enacting the roles, at the Caixa Cultural Theatre in November and December 2015.

Critical response

The ''TheatreMania'' reviewer wrote: "...this 100-minute, intermissionless piece may not be the author's most soul-searing, it's the one in which the characters seem the most human.Finkle, David
"Reviews. ''The Mercy Seat'' "
theatermania.com, December 18, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercy Seat Plays by Neil LaBute 2002 plays Plays about the September 11 attacks Plays set in New York City