To the faithful, there are no coincidences, even if not all accidents are happy ones.
Take Bruce Van Hine's Bibles. The New York City fireman always dreamed of leaving Bibles in the shelters on the Appalachian Trail, and when his wife, Anne, received a large box of New Testaments as a donation, he went on day hikes to parts of the trail in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, placing several books each time.
"Bruce would put them in gallon Ziploc bags, so they wouldn't get wet," Mrs. Van Hine remembered. "And just a week before 9/11 happened, he got back from his latest trip and said, 'I'm all out. I'm going to have to get some more.' "
Mr. Van Hine was one of thousands to die in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Hundreds of those killed were New York City firefighters. Mr. Van Hine is one of three memorialized in playwright/actor Rich Swingle's one-man show "Five Bells for 9/11," which he will perform Monday and Tuesday at the South Hills Church of the Nazarene in Bethel Park.
"Five Bells" also covers the experiences of Franciscan priest the Rev. Brian Jordan and Lana Ho Shing, a mutual funds specialist at Morgan Stanley.
The story behind "Five Bells" and its Pittsburgh appearance on the sixth anniversary of 9/11 is also a set of seemingly chance connections.
Mr. Swingle, 37, has spent a decade writing and acting in plays with spiritual themes. He recently returned to his home in New York City from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. There he performed "Beyond the Chariots," his play that followed Eric Liddell, one of the runners in the 1981 film "Chariots of Fire," as he became a Chinese missionary.
A film is being made of the story, and Mr. Swingle said he hopes the trailers will be ready in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Soon after 9/11, an Indiana church asked Mr. Swingle to find a New Yorker willing to speak about his or her experiences during the tragedy. "And I realized, wait a minute, why just have one person tell their story of that day?"
In the months following, he read scores of books about 9/11 and contacted people in order to gather material for a play. One survivor had clawed his way out of an elevator shaft to escape the Towers, but Mr. Swingle said when he called him, "he was just tired of talking about it."
Eventually he tracked down Mrs. Van Hine and the others through mutual acquaintances.
Mrs. Van Hine, who will speak after both South Hills performances, was already speaking to groups about her husband and how she and her two daughters coped with his loss. Mr. Swingle said her message informed his play.
Mrs. Van Hine, 53, lives in Orange County, N.Y., and runs a school for dance.
"What's different about Anne is that she focuses on the theme of hope," Mr. Swingle pointed out. "When we draw up our remembrances of that day, it's negative. She helped remind me you could find positive moments in it that balanced that."
Mr. Swingle had worked at Times Square's Lamb's Theater, which the Church of the Nazarene purchased in the mid-1970s to showcase family-themed entertainment. There he met Dr. Dallas Mucci, then district supervisor for the Church of the Nazarene in metropolitan New York.
Dr. Mucci said in that position, he saw firsthand what a powerful tool theater could be for spiritual causes. Now 73 and retired, he lives in Bethel Park, but remains active in the South Hills church's theater and music programs. He invited Mr. Swingle to do "Five Bells" in Pittsburgh. Tickets sold so quickly that the church transferred the show, which is funded through a mix of ticket sales and church support, to a larger venue and opened ticket sales to the public.
"Two of the greatest vehicles for wrestling with the great issues of life are theater and music," Dr. Mucci said.
" 'Five Bells' offers audiences a way to come to terms with a national tragedy.''
Mr. Swingle said the show continues to affect people through chance connections.
"One night I was doing the show, and I came to the part about Bruce's Bibles," he said. "I heard a gasp. I thought someone had had a heart attack, but it was a man who'd been considering doing the same thing -- placing Bibles on the Appalachian Trail. And later, he said he realized that now he had to do it."
"Five Bells for 9/11" is at the South Hills Church of The Nazarene, 5601 Library Road, Bethel Park, at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. The dessert "meet and greet" with actor Rich Swingle and Anne Van Hine is sold out, but tickets to the show are $10. Call 412-831-6333.
First Published: September 6, 2007, 2:30 p.m.
