SYNOPISIS

A father tries to teach his son about life, faith, and finding good in the world as they ride the New York City Subway together, over many years. But as the son grows up, the values they once took for granted become a vivid battleground for conflicting visions of personal responsibility, the public good, and the meaning of hope.

BACKGROUND

Every weekend, when we don't have anything else, my son and I ride the New York City Subway. He's five. He loves trains. And I love him. And somehow without knowing it, our regular trips together have become a highlight of my life, sharing the world with him one station at a time.

During these adventures, I think a lot about what we're doing. I wasn’t raised in the city, and I think about what he is learning and what I am teaching, with our privilege of free time. I pray that, on balance, my words, actions, and values give him both practical education, as well as some particle of hope.

But even his simplest questions can stop me in my tracks.

"Dad, who built the Subway? Why?"

I struggle to answer every question with humble, engaged honesty. Was it a public good, to ease over-crowding of the Lower East Side? Was it the commercial greed or real estate speculators? Was it the pleasure of engineering exactitude that drew straight lines across unrelated ecosystems? Or was it, like I was taught, the plan of a Christian God, from before time, orchestrating lives along tracks and switches, all within the embrace of grace? As I reverse-engineer the story of the Subway on our Sunday morning rides, I am brought face-to-face with some of life’s deepest questions.

THE SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY explores the sincere desire to pass on the good – and jettison the bad – for the next generation. As a father, these are real issues for me. I want to give my son the best traditions and values that have been handed down to me, in ways that are useful and life-giving. But I struggle to create a vision of faith that resonates in our contemporary American landscape. How do I pass on a legacy that is flawed or broken? How can I select certain values above others? How can I even speak, all too aware of my own shortcomings? Like my father before me, my response to my own dilemmas becomes a foundational model for how to have faith as we encounter the larger world. Rather than channeling my effort into rage, depravity, or despair, I choose to show him what virtue can be found even in simple, domestic gestures.

As an artist, I am keenly aware of the politics of telling stories. With THE SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY I am interested in opening up conversations around masculinity, privilege, and intimacy that deepen our current cultural narratives. I believe that truthful, complicated, human accounts are desperately needed right now. My method is to present these characters in their own light, and encourage the audience to encounter them without cynicism or judgment. My priorities are gentleness, precision, and bravery. My hope is that we can come to better understand those who came before us – flaws and all – and with humor, humility, and tenderness, we can share in those fleeting moments when we are our best selves.

Thank you very much.