The Looming Tower on Stage

By Scott Horton

Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower, which received a Pulitzer Prize in the general non-fiction category this year, is without a doubt the outstanding work of many which have attempted an inside portrait of the processes driving Al Qaeda and similar terrorist movements in the Muslim world. And Wright’s one-man play, My Trip to al-Qaeda, is potentially even more brilliant than the book. I saw it in February and found it to be a transformative experience.

Even if you follow events in the Middle East with some care, this play is likely to move you to deeper understanding of the problems we face. Wright’s play was sold out virtually every night through its Bleecker Street run, and now it will show for two evenings, June 5 and 6, at Town Hall. Tickets are available online.