review

milt thomas

The World Trade Center attack on 9-11 is seared in our collective memory. We watched on TV as it happened. We remember every detail – where we were and what we did that horrible day. We watched or read about every detail after it happened.

But do we really know everything that happened on September 11, 2001?

Yankee Tavern is a four-person play currently showing on the Riverside Theatre Waxlax Stage that takes place five years after 9-11. The namesake bar is scheduled for demolition, as well as the hotel in which it is located. Adam (played by Patrick M. Byrnes) is a young graduate student running the bar since the death of his father. Janet (played by Emily Verla) is his fiancée. They are discussing their wedding invitations when a longtime customer, Ray (played by Steve Brady), staggers in. He lives upstairs in the condemned hotel, apparently a vagrant and apparently alone.

Ray is a walking encyclopedia of conspiracy theories. From the moment he enters the bar, he rattles off a litany of conspiracy theories about aliens, JFK assassination, moon landing, Yoko Ono, and of course, 9-11. His diatribe is at times humorous, tiresome, paranoid, yet no more out of touch with reality than the craziness we read every day on social media.

Adam is heading to Washington DC where he will meet with his former professor, a foreign policy expert, to discuss his master’s thesis. But since the professor is a woman, Janet’s suspicions are aroused and Ray offers his input, which does not help the situation.

In the middle of this brewing conflict, a stranger walks in and sits at the bar. We eventually know him as Palmer (played by Christopher Schmidt), but at first he simply orders two Rolling Rock beers and sits quietly drinking one of them. He soon orders another beer, ignoring the untouched one next to him. Is he waiting for someone, someone who will never show up?

Palmer doesn’t say much, but when he does, it shocks the others. Palmer seems to have information about 9-11 that even Ray has never heard.

At that point, Yankee Tavern makes a sharp left turn that takes Ranting Ray and the Domestically Discordant couple down a rabbit hole lined with espionage, secret agents, infidelity and hit men. At times funny, tense, mysterious and downright scary, Yankee Tavern speeds to a conclusion that leaves you emotionally spent. So, what is real then and what is a crazy conspiracy theory? As the saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction – as long as you know which is which.

Yankee Tavern is unlike any of the recent shows I’ve seen on the Waxlax Stage. It will keep you on the edge of your seat as the story develops, even though there are only four actors, one permanent stage setting and no CGI effects or explosions.

Patrick M. Byrnes and Emily Verla are perfect as the young couple wrestling with young couple issues as well as one major issue that trumps everything in their relationship. Christopher Schmidt is at first a quiet bystander, then a seemingly fellow conspiracy theorist, but ultimately…well, you will see.

The stage belongs to Steve Brady though with his tin foil hat conspiracy theories and encounters with dead people.  Steve is a Riverside veteran, starring in last year’s Bakersfield Mist (see review here) and 2016’s production of Freud’s Last Session (see review).

The intimate Waxlax Theater is perfect for this show, where every seat is close to the action so the audience feels like they are part of the conspiracy.  Tickets will go fast once word gets around, so get yours soon.

Yankee Tavern is part of the Bobbie Olsen Series on the Waxlax Stage. Performances run through  April 7, 2024. Tickets are $65 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 772-231-6990 or online at http://www.riversidetheatre.com.