The Mercy Seat (play)

Set on September 12, it concerns Ben, a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the attack, with his mistress, Abby, who is also his boss.

Though urban legends of a similar adulterous situation circulated at the time, LaBute has said he was actually inspired to write the play when, after the events of September 11, his flight from Chicago to New York City was cancelled and he had to take a 21-hour train ride.

"[1] Schreiber, who stepped in to play Ben after frequent LaBute collaborator Aaron Eckhart proved unavailable, was deeply affected by his character's flaws, saying, "Doing this part, I feel, well, shadier.

[5] The Mercy Seat was performed in Lima, Perú during June 2008, in a Spanish translation entitled Misericordia, starring Mónica Sánchez and Gonzalo Molina.

The Mercy Seat was produced, in Portuguese translation by Gustavo Klein as Marco Zero, in a production directed by Ivan Sugahara, and with Letícia Isnard and Tárik Puggina enacting the roles, at the Caixa Cultural Theatre in November and December 2015.