A September 11 tribute “The Guys”, is currently playing at Ensemble Theater in downtown Cincinnati. The play is a tale of a journalist and a firefighter brought together to write eulogies for unaccounted firemen that died on September 11th.

“The Guys” only has two characters. Joan a journalist, and Nick the broken-down fire captain. The two find themselves crossing the same path only by chance. The chance that Nick is assigned to write eulogies for the firemen from his station that were dispatched to Ground Zero and are still not accounted for. Starring Amy Warner and Dennis Parlato, the play opens with events that began ten days after the tragedy that shook all of America.

As the theater darkens, the play begins with the audience’s attention focused on the white flag backdrop. Illuminating the background were the faint sounds of sirens, people screaming, and several news broadcasts. Then, the count began. The count of lives lost to the terrorists act of September 11th. Nick brings each fireman back to life as he describes the loss of his stationhouse family. Patrick was the family man who was two weeks away from attempting to make captain. Jimmy was the official firehouse food critic. Barney and Dave were the firefighting-duo that was inseparable. And Jimmy, who was still on probationary status, was the quietest and the youngest one of them all. There was not a dry eye in the theater as Nick revisits his memories of his fallen comrades.

Amy and Dennis have magic on stage as they depict the emotional state of their characters during the healing process that must take place after such a tragedy. Hearing personal characteristics of these individuals was very emotional for me and most of the audience. I strongly recommend going to see this play to help with the healing process.

Ensemble Theater is the first theater in the country to present “The Guys” outside of New York City. “The Guys” is still playing a few blocks away from Ground Zero.