Almost 23 years ago on Sept. 11, terrorists flew two airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City, killing 2,763 people. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Marshalltown Community Theater (MCT) will present “110 Stories,” a roughly two-hour reader’s theater production, in the Orpheum Black Box Theater.

“I wanted to keep the 9/11 tragedy in everybody’s minds,” Director Rick Gooding said. “It’s been more than 20 years.”

“110 Stories” is a special extra show not included in the regular MCT season, which consists of “Elf, Jr. The Musical,” “The Drowning Girls” and “Iowa Playwright Night.” The play, written by Sarah Tuft, consists of firsthand accounts of the New York City attack.

“These were people who were at the Towers — first responders, firemen, policemen,” Gooding said. “There’s a homeless man, a priest from the church in that area which was taking people in. There’s construction workers and people who worked the next day to start removing stuff. It’s a vast array of people.”

The homeless man is particularly amazing to Gooding. He said the man lived in an alley close to the Towers, got people out and to the church. The play is one he hopes Marshalltown youth will attend, as they were not alive when Sept. 11 occurred.

Gooding first saw a performance of the play during a competition about 10 years ago. He said a theater group brought a cutting of the show to the play competition, and he thought it was exceptionally moving. Through the years, Gooding noticed smaller community theaters putting on performances of the show during the same time of the year.

“I thought this would be a good thing for us to do here,” he said.

Auditions for “110 Stories” were not held. Gooding said he posted about it on Facebook, asking people if they had any interest in participating.

“I got all kinds of responses,” he said. “I sorted through people who I knew and talked to everybody. I asked if it would fit their schedule.”

Gooding wanted to do justice to the material. Since it is a reader’s theater, the 12 actors will not have to memorize lines. They will go through one reading on Tuesday. He said the participants will not have to act as the content will do that for them.

Gooding wanted to use the Black Box to provide a more intimate setting. Adding to that sense, he said a video of New York City, the attacks and the aftermath will be played behind the actors during the play.

“I wanted to help the community continue to be aware of the horrible thing that happened on U.S. soil,” he said. “It’s like the Kennedy assassination — everybody knows where they were when that happened.”

Gooding was in Paris on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I was out shopping that day and staying with a friend,” he said. “I got back to the apartment and the phone was ringing. It was my friend from his office, saying ‘Turn on the TV. Turn on the TV.'”

It was devastating for Gooding to watch the tragedy unfold while he was out of the country.

“The footage was constant,” he said. “I watched it all day long. It was horrible, but the most moving thing — the next day when I went out in Paris, all of the major buildings had armed guards outside, but in all the shop windows and restaurants, there were American flags and they put up ‘We love America.'”

As a result of the attacks, which also included airliners crashing into the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania, Gooding had to stay an extra week in Paris. When he was finally able to leave, airplane passengers had to get on a bus and were taken to the tarmac. Airplanes were not allowed to get close to the terminal, just in case something might happen, Gooding said.

He landed in Chicago and had a four-hour layover before being flown to Des Moines. Gooding said he had never seen the O’Hare International Airport empty.

“They had just started getting flights again, and it was spooky,” he said. “When we landed at home, the whole plane applauded.”

Bringing “110 Stories” to Marshalltown might make residents remember where they were, and what they were doing. The title of the play comes from the number of stories which were in the World Trade Center towers before the collapse.

“I don’t think we will ever forget it,” Gooding said. “I just want people to see what these people went through at that time. None of us could be there, and they had to deal with this. Just be aware of what they went through — physically and mentally.”

110 STORIES CAST:

The actors who will bring “110 Stories” to life are Nate Bloomquist, Janine Campbell, Casey Cook, Sue Crawford, Joel Duden, Pete Grady, Nicole Jensen, Arlene McAtee, Rob Merritt, Becky Mounsdon, Lisa Naig and Karen Roessler.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION:

What: “110 Stories” readers theater

Where: Orpheum Black Box Theater, 220 E. Main St.

Dates: Wednesday and Thursday

Times: 7 p.m.

Tickets: Can only be purchased at the door for $10. They will be available at 6:15 p.m. both nights.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.