Ponte Vedra High School drama teacher Jason Nettle was in New York City the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
He remembers the smell emanating from the collapsing World Trade Center, the ash, the darkening sky.
“It was surreal,” he said.
He remembers how, after the first plane flew into the North Tower at 8:46 that morning, no one knew what was going on and how, upon learning that it was a terrorist attack, there was cause for concern.
“We didn’t know if New York was going to exist at the end of the week,” he recalled. “We didn’t know if nuclear bombs were coming. We didn’t know anything.”
Nettle was in his apartment at the time, and immediately went to the bar on the city’s upper east side where he worked, hoping to learn more about what was happening. He found himself serving drinks to many police officers and firefighters.
Nine years later, when he needed a grad thesis for his master’s in theater at the University of Central Florida, that eventful day came back to him. He was in the gym, listening to Bruce Springsteen’s “Rising” album — which is largely based on the aftermath of the attacks — when he suddenly felt inspired.
“Something came over me, and I said, ‘This is what I want to do,’” he said.
He researched the 9/11 tragedy extensively and wrote a one-man show where he would portray 18 different people and how they dealt with the aftermath of the attacks. During his performance, he plays a small child, an older man who has lost his wife, an older woman who has lost a son and other fictionalized characters. One of his roles was drawn from direct personal experience, because he plays himself.
Since then, he has presented the show several times in various venues. And presenting the individual, human aspect of what for many has faded into a historic event has deeply impacted his audiences. It reminds them of the oft quoted and just as often forgotten maxim: “Live every day like it’s your last.”
“I think on that day the 3,000 families that lost somebody, I think they wish they had had just one more chance,” Nettle said.
So powerful is this theme that one young man approached Nettle after a performance and, inspired by what he’d seen, said he’d decided to propose to his girlfriend that night. Others told Nettle that they were moved to call friends they hadn’t spoken to for a long time.
On Saturday, Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Nettle will present his show at the Ponte Vedra High School auditorium. Showtime is 5 p.m.
No tickets will be sold in advance. A $10 donation is suggested, though that is up to the individual donor.
The name of the show is “9/11: We Will Forget,” which is not meant to offend those who say, “We will never forget.” Rather, it’s a recognition that even something as impactful as the Sept. 11 terror attacks can slip in our memories as the years pass.
The show is a fundraiser for the Dramatic Arts Boosters and will help the PVHS drama department present three shows planned for this year: “Clue” in December, “Pippin” in February and “Kiss Me, Kate” in the spring.
