Play leaves it to chance

There are many ways to trivialize a literally earth-shattering event, as author Craig Wright illustrates with his ill-advised opus inspired by 9/11.

His play deals with themes that are as old as humanity, but misguidedly layers cosmic speculation about free will and fate onto the too-fresh framework of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The elliptical and ultimately irrelevant arguments of fate vs. free will are as dry as a desert. Wright’s play questions how much control we really have now that we know the world is dotted with determined evildoers. When does chance stop and individual choice begin?

All of this happens in the first act of Recent Tragic Events, a comedy of sorts in which things spin out of control and the perception of inevitability takes over.

The play, being staged by 1812 Productions at the Adrienne Theatre, takes place on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the Twin Towers collapsed. The production opens with Andrew (Chris Faith), a somewhat nervous bookstore manager in his mid-30s arriving for his blind date with Waverly (Juliette Dunn), an ad agent who is a little younger than Andrew, attractive and sure of herself. They find out quickly that they like the same authors and, in fact, his favorite author, Joyce Carol Oates, is Waverly’s great aunt.

Why tell the story within the context of a blind date? Because a blind date is an act of courage over trepidation, uncertainty and isolation – the choice some Americans faced on 9/12.

The date is interrupted by Waverly’s need to get in touch with her twin sister, Wendy, who lives in New York. The action also includes Waverly’s quirky neighbor, Ron (Jeb Kreager), a musician with a weird outlook on life and freedom; Ron’s quiet friend, Nancy (Jennifer Childs), who comes over for pizza; and respected author Oates (also played by Childs, holding a sock puppet), who stops by because her plane, which was on its way to New York the day before, was diverted to Minneapolis, where the play unfolds.

Events opens with a fake stage manager asking an audience member to flip a coin. The result will dictate the outcome of that evening’s performance.

We are also told a tone often will sound and, when it does, actors must deliver an alternate line that might send the plot in any number of directions, while still leading back to the coin-determined outcome. This puzzling game of fate vs. control is not exactly convincing.

And it is, of course, just a game. This coin-flip business merely underscores the point that nothing Waverly, her pals or even her knitted Aunt Joyce can do in Minneapolis will change whether Wendy is dead or alive in New York.

The play ponders themes of chance, choice and freedom in some thought-compelling ways.

Andrew is the most confused about his views on fate, saying "I don’t know where chances start and choices start." Wendy, whom we never actually meet, leaves everything to chance. Andrew tells Waverly about how he met her sister in New York two weeks prior and how she asked him for advice.

"Talking to strangers is like flipping a coin. It’s how I make decisions," one character says.

We find connections between characters that seemed impossible, and wonder whether these connections are based on chance or fate. Each character seems to have his or her own hang-ups and views on the question, brought to light by the tragedy that is unfolding on TV as they speak.

Ron and Oates get into a debate about freedom and whether they are truly free. The author asserts herself, saying, "We are perfectly and absolutely free," and adds, "Without freedom, there is no such thing as human nature."

Recent Tragic Events tediously argues all sides of every argument. The play’s two quirky characters provide comic relief. The role of Ron, the annoyingly chatty neighbor, also carries much of the play’s intellectual punch. Dispersed within Ron’s nonsensical (and overwritten) musings are many of the playwright’s cosmic messages about fate, free will and personal responsibility. Childs plays his spacey and immodest friend, a silent study in blank stares.

The characters are not entirely believable. Under Peter Pryor’s sure-handed direction, Wright’s characters are either irritating (Ron, Nancy), pitifully inept (Andrew) or annoyingly superficial (Waverly), and become quite grating as they fail to elicit our empathy.

The frequently sounding tone is meant to clue us in to the revelatory idea that, gosh, life is full of funny games of chance, quirks of coincidence and infinite possibilities – as if just one of the innumerable missed-train stories relating to the terrorist attacks didn’t bring that obvious point home more powerfully.