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Exhibit at Penn museum of objects excavated from 9/11 site

A page from some lost dictionary, a D page, with a line drawing of an oil derrick in the margin.

A page from some lost dictionary, a D page, with a line drawing of an oil derrick in the margin.

A pair of wire-rimmed glasses, split at the bridge.

These are some of the pieces included in the new exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, "Excavating Ground Zero: Fragments from 9/11," a collection of objects recovered from the World Trade Center site since the 2001 attacks.

The show, which runs through Nov. 6, will be bolstered by two special commemorative programs Sunday: a lecture about the architectural history of the twin towers and a unique theatrical performance called Cato: 9/11, featuring one of George Washington's favorite plays, Joseph Addison's Cato: A Tragedy.

The objects, which include a loudspeaker, glass ornaments, and a stairway sign, are on loan from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York.

They raise a host of questions.

One piece, a melted computer keyboard, has been rendered almost beautiful by the heat - as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit - which engulfed the Twin Towers. It's a surreal mille-feuille pastry, layer upon layer of black, gray, copper, and aqua-blue plastic curling around each other like frozen waves.

Is it beautiful? Are we allowed to find it poetic?

Yes, if we keep in mind that each piece represents a fragment of someone's life, says Kate Quinn, the museum's head of exhibits.

"And all these . . . will be the objects of daily life, which tell the story of the people who were there, hundreds of years from now," she says.

Each piece has been on a strange journey, Quinn says. First, "it went directly to the medical examiner's office" and then to the police, who "tried their best to try to find the original owners or next of kin."

In 2006, archaeologists began cataloging the objects for further study.

"What we are getting at," Quinn says, "is that archaeology pulls together lost moments of time and that archaeology defines history."

Jean Byrne, who helps run the museum's education programs, says the challenge of such an exhibition is to show that archaeology, which usually deals with ancient cultures, can bring a unique perspective to an event that is only a decade old.

Visitors on Sunday also will be able to hear a lecture at 1 p.m., "Making a Monument: The Fall and Rise of the World Trade Center," by Penn art historian David Brownlee, who will discuss the story behind the design and construction of the twin towers, and the structures' reception by the public.

"People were horrified" by the twin towers, says Byrne. "The majority felt they were ugly. But then, it grew to become such an iconic building for New York."

The afternoon will be capped at 3 p.m. by Cato: 9/11, a performance-and-discussion produced by the Brooklyn-based troupe Outside the Wire, which describes itself as "a social-impact company that uses theater . . . to address pressing public health and social issues."

Artistic director Bryan Doerries says he uses the classic dramatists - he's partial to Sophocles - to engender productive discussions about current problems.

Talk directly about medical ethics or post-traumatic stress disorder in combat, he says, and the debate can turn into a frustrating free-for-all.

Doerries' approach has won some pretty powerful allies, including the Pentagon, which last year awarded him a $3.7 million grant to produce his Sophocles program, Theater of War, for U.S. military personnel at more than 50 military sites.

Outside the Wire's other projects address substance abuse, medical ethics, and political violence and human rights and have featured such guest stars as Blythe Danner, David Strathairn, Jeffrey Wright, and Gloria Reuben.

On Sunday, Outside the Wire will present a dramatic reading of British playwright Addison's 1712 Cato: A Tragedy, with six actors, including two New York-based guest stars, Bill Camp (Public Enemies, Showtime's Brotherhood) and Reg E. Cathey, best known for his work on the HBO dramas Oz and The Wire.

Addison's play, which deeply influenced the architects of the American Revolution, is about the last days of Roman senator Cato, who openly resisted Julius Caesar's tyranny in the name of freedom and republicanism. He eventually committed suicide rather than accept Caesar.

"Many founding fathers, including Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, and George Washington, loved this play," says Doerries, 35.

"Washington had it performed for his troops at Valley Forge," he adds, "despite a congressional prohibition against performance and entertainment during the Revolutionary War."

Its importance for molding American values can't be underestimated, says Cathey, who plays Cato.

Cathey, 53, sees a connection between Addison's play and Sept. 11.

"The themes raised by Addison - virtue in the face of suffering and courage in the face of certain destruction - reflect the best of what . . . we aspire to be," he says by e-mail from Camp Zama, near Tokyo, where he is performing Theater of War for U.S. troops.

"And on 9/11, the police and firemen who raced into the towers to their deaths showed that bravery."

The dramatic reading will be followed by an open discussion. Doerries hopes for a frank exchange "about how our country has changed over the past decade."

A good question to discuss, Cathey says, is whether we are still true to republican ideals, or seduced by power and the promise of empire - Cato or Caesar.

"My question now, in the 21st century, is: Who is Cato? Who is Caesar? Who or what is this idea that is America?"