Review: Yankee Tavern by Steven Dietz at ACT. Directed by Steven Dietz. With Charles Leggett, Jennifer Lee Taylor, Shawn Telford and R. Hamilton Wright. Now through August 29
Playwright Steven Dietz has become the go-to guy at ACT with 10 of his plays being staged at the theater and seven of those being world premieres. Yankee Tavern is not a world premiere; it was originally staged for the Florida Stage Company last year, but it is a more than worthy asset for the reputation of ACT. Yankee Tavern isn’t a perfect piece of art, but it is an entertaining, thought provoking and highly enjoyable political thriller with strong performances, taut direction and excellent sound design. It’s also frequently very funny with a Falstaffian character who nearly capsizes the show with the charisma of his bravado. It’s well worth checking out.
Five years after the horrors of 9/11, graduate student and tavern owner Adam is preparing for graduation with a degree in International Relations and overseeing the slow death of the aging tavern he inherited from his father. He’s also nervously engaged to the determined and highly attractive Janet, who helps out in the bar, despite its lack of customers. Only loudmouth, conspiracy buff and all around hearty barfly Ray still loyally visits the bar he considers his true home. Ray and Adam frequently argue about Ray’s crazy 9/11 theories and Janet plays referee to their disagreements and all is relatively well in Yankee Tavern until the day a stranger shows up, alone, and orders two Rolling Rock beers, one for himself and one for the empty barstool beside him. The Stranger is silent for most of the first act but his presence in the bar will not only change the lives of the other characters, but how the audience views the world and the events of September 11, 2001.
We’re clearly in “Cheers” land from the opening moments of this play. A seedy bar in an East coast city populated by a charismatic owner, an attractive barmaid and a loudmouth regular with a barrage of jokes, banter and exposition about the lives of the characters. But, with the introduction of the Stranger, the mood of the play slowly changes and evolves; it’s like the Coen Brothers were brought in to punch up one of the later seasons of “Cheers” and introduced a new, scary, not TV friendly character to scare the shit out of Sam Malone, Norm, Carla and the rest of the gang. The laughs become fewer as the tension mounts and we learn Adam might not be the man we thought he was and maybe some of the 9/11 theories that pour out of Ray’s mouth might have a basis in truth. Yankee Tavern is a play that starts out in friendly, TV sitcom land and gradually and dramatically builds its way into a political thriller in the tradition of Robert Ludlam’s “Bourne Identity” series of books and later films. The balance and transition between these different identities isn’t always as smooth as it could be and some of the character motivations seem a bit abrupt and unreal, but all in all, Mr Dietz has written and directed a fine stage thriller with my only major carp being the ending which seemed a bit rushed and quick to wrap things up like the drama proctor had called “Time!” as the playwright was finishing the play. I didn’t need all my questions answered but I certainly would have liked things to have played out a bit more…conversationally. I felt a bit like I was being hurried along to make way for the next dinner service…
Another “fault” in the play is the character of Ray. It’s a funny sort of fault because Ray is a brilliantly funny, verbose, complex and fascinating character but he almost hijacks the entire play; you’re not much interested in Adam and Janet or their tedious little lives when Ray is around. I think part of the problem is in the writing; obviously Adam and Janet need to be made a bit fuller and more interesting in order to compete with Ray…I hesitate to suggest toning down Ray, because it would be a crime to inhibit the character but he really is the star character of the play. Some of that probably can be attributed to the excellent performance by Charles Leggett who commands the stage with the swagger and bluster and genuine charm of the character. It’s an award worthy performance from a superb actor at the height of his powers.
Shawn Telford as Adam and Jennifer Lee Taylor as Janet are both good actors who do fine in their roles, but it’s hard to compete on stage with a character as rich as Ray. Ms Taylor very ably captured the intelligence of the character as well as the terror in the dramatic scenes and she makes an excellent leading lady. Mr Telford has the hardest role; Adam turns out to be a bit of a mystery and it’s hard to play a character that doesn’t reveal much externally but the actor successfully plays the different levels of the enigmatic character so we remain unsure about the nature of the character, as dictated by the script. It’s a tough role and Mr Telford plays it well.
There’s little praise that hasn’t been said about the great local character actor, R. Hamilton Wright. He’s been impressing Seattle theater goers for many, many years and his dry, taciturn performance as the mysterious “Palmer” who visits the bar and reveals a host of secrets and surprises, (and, maybe a few lies?) is another fine addition to his resume. We’re never sure if Palmer is a good guy, a bad guy, a crazy guy or a liar but Mr Wright plays it so that any or all those options COULD be the right one.
Technically the show is very strong with a simple but effectively seedy bar set by Matthew Smucker; appropriately thrilleresque lighting design by Rick Paulsen and most importantly, a superb sound design by Brendan Patrick Hogan that uses ambient city noises, the rumble of the subway and some very chilling music to ratchet up the tension while maintaining a sense of urban reality amidst the unrealistic nature of a political thriller. I’m always very happy when theaters and productions realize that sound design is one of the most vital elements in a show and one that is frequently short changed…excellent work from the entire team.
Who’s this show for? Thriller fans, especially those of the political thriller variety will enjoy this show a lot. Ultra conservative types might not enjoy it so much though; the show does raise a lot of questions about 9/11 and presents some shocking but truthful facts that raises discrepancies about the “official” view of that day; the program has a fascinating article about the conspiracy claims that Ray makes in the show and the evidence that backs them up. If anything, Yankee Tavern will not only entertain you, but get you to think about the nature of conspiracies and our involvement in them.
-Michael Strangeways
