It is a heavy day for grading papers and I took two hours off to see a new play by Steven Dietz called Yankee Tavern at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.  That is not as irresponsible as it might appear because if I grade for too many hours in a row all tends to look yellow to a jaundiced eye so the grades go down. I have to take a break.

The play is set in a New York City bar and is based on discussions the bartender, his girlfriend, a homeless philosopher, and a possible former government official have about 9/11 and the various conspiracy theories that surround that event.  The bartender’s graduate thesis on conspiracy theories and alleged dalliance with a female Middle Eastern professor provides the conceit/basis of the play.

Here are the descriptions and reviews from www.dramatists.com because I am just taking a short break before going to bed for a few hours to get up and grade again.  I love midterms.

"A guy walks into a bar and orders two beers, one for himself and one for his absent buddy. Yes, it sounds like the set-up for a joke, but with his chilling new play, YANKEE TAVERN, the prolific Steven Dietz has something darker and more sobering in mind. Dietz is a master of smart dialogue and wily storytelling. He draws us in with characters that intrigue, but the stories they spin can do a number on our beliefs and leave us shattered. The American theater has a rich tradition of barroom plays, of which YANKEE TAVERN now becomes a part. Here's a toast to Dietz and his play, which should work its way through the nation's new play network with the staying power of a juicy conspiracy theory." —Palm Beach Arts Paper. "YANKEE TAVERN is one helluva show. You'll be scared by the intimations of Act One. You'll be moved by the awful events of Act Two. And when the terrible day is discussed, you will hear the millennium's fresh ghosts rattling through the walls of the theater…and feel their unhappy gaze beaming from the tavern's smudged, stained-glass windows." —Palm Beach New Times. "YANKEE TAVERN is a cousin to John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: The play isn't really about what did or didn't happen; it's about the agony of uncertainty. The play's lightning flashes come from Dietz's insights into Americans' obsession with conspiracies." —Miami Herald. "A superb playwright…an edge-of-your-seat thriller." —Palm Beach Daily News.

I was not chilled, sobered, scared or moved but found the portrayal of the homeless philosopher/conspiracy theorist to be interesting.  I was kinda confused how any New Yorker (the bartender) could inherit even a crumbling nine story building in New York City perhaps Manhattan and not be a wealthy man.  I guess I need to learn more about New York City.

What I learned from the play or what it confirmed that I already knew from living my own life is that tragedy can make one nuts from questioning why and how too much.  Every character in the play does that and suffers for it.

I did not write down the quote so I may mangle it but my favorite of all the wild observations made by homeless philosopher/theorist is that the “War on Terror” is a ridiculous phrase since “terror” is a feeling and once we have tired of feeling that negative emotion then the war is won.  His point is that going to war against an emotion is/was rather stupid.

I agree.