If you can't get enough of Michael Imperioli via reruns of "The Sopranos" or movies on DVD, check out his latest endeavor, "Late Fragment" - a new play by Francine Volpe that he and Zetna Fuentes co-direct in a limited Off-Broadway engagement at Studio Dante through Oct. 22nd.

Studio Dante, as readers of this column will remember, is the elegant 65-seat theater Michael and his wife Victoria founded in 2003 to showcase innovative new plays.

Drawing talent from the New York theater, their productions are infused with the magic that makes New York-based films and television great. You never know what you'll see or whom you'll meet at Studio Dante.

"Late Fragment" explores the life of an average Joe whose world crashes down around him, despite the fact that he is a survivor. The play revolves around Mathew (Nick Sandow), a white-collar worker who comes home on Sept. 11, 2001, covered in soot having survived the attacks on the World Trade Center.

"Late Fragment" makes you think about all those people who ran for their lives that day.

What did they face on the other side of the devastation? Did their husbands and wives welcome them home with open arms or look for ways to capitalize on the situation like Mathew's wife Marta (Jenna Stern) does?

Without giving away too much of the plot, let's just say things don't go well for Mathew. The problems he's having with Marta, which predate the attacks and setup the tension between them, involves bankruptcy and the fact Mathew is not the "big shot" Marta thought she married.

Nor is he the hero the press wants him to be. When square-jawed anchorman Brian (Dean Harrison) turns up with his cameraman (Ken Forman) and tries to spin Mathew's experience into a story of bravery, Marta welcomes them.

But when their efforts fail and they return a second time, she throws them out. "They don't care about you," Marta tells Mathew. But neither does she or Dorian, their sleazy bankruptcy lawyer (Michael Mosely).

Nobody understands what Mathew, a first-edition book collector and self-described Charlie Brown, is going through. Are his physical problems real or psychosomatic? If he had died in the attacks would he have gotten what he wanted out of life?

This is the premise of the lines Mathew quotes from the poem "Late Fragment" by Raymond Carver, from which the play gets its title. The question we must also ask ourselves - in life, were we beloved?

Although I've seen several plays and films about 9/11, none has included a more haunting set than the one Victoria Imperioli creates for "Late Fragment" on the intimate stage at Studio Dante.

Featuring a tableau made of shattered glass that recreates the buildings that still stood after the towers fell, with white powder that covers everything from fallen bricks on the stage to the exposed electrical wires and cables ripped to shreds on the ceiling, it stands as a strong metaphor and eerie reminder of what happened to Mathew.

Going to Studio Dante, also has its perks in terms of who might be sitting next to you in the audience. You might find yourself surrounded by a Soprano or two. Sitting in the seat in front of us - Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) looking all debonair as usual in a starched white shirt, spiffy tie and expensive suit; right behind us Steve Schirripa (Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri) chatting with another journalist and directly across the aisle- James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano).

All this and the added bonus, Michael Imperioli is a hands-on proprietor who thanks the audience for coming and introduces this thought-provoking play.