By Door County Pulse, Peninsula Pulse — September 25th, 2025
“Ryan’s Pub, Trivia Night” at Third Avenue PlayWorks. Photo by Larry Mohr.
Performances started Sept. 24 for Third Avenue PlayWorks’ (TAP) world premiere production of Ryan’s Pub, Trivia Night by Alec Silberblatt.
A semifinalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival that was workshopped at the 2023 Seven Devil Playwrights Conference, Ryan’s Pub, Trivia Night exemplifies playwright Silberblatt’s quirky, distinctive storytelling. The play follows Marcie and Richie, the best trivia team this side of the Monongahela River, as they contend with a colorful cast of characters and come face-to-face with demons both real and imagined.
“I seek to find the extraordinary in the ordinary,” Silberblatt said about his work. “Make the mundane poetic. Make heroes out of the flawed folks you meet at the local bar.”
Silberblatt is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the setting for Ryan’s Pub. Most recently, Pittsburgh Public Theater commissioned his play, A Tell-Tale Heart, which premiered online during the COVID-19 pandemic and live in 2023 to sold-out audiences at Pittsburgh Public Theater, where the playwright also starred in the production.
TAP has a history of producing new work. The company’s last world premiere was Jennifer Blackmer’s I Carry Your Heart with Me in 2023, which won a Steinberg/America Theatre Critics Association New Play Citation in 2024.
“We’ve made a commitment to making new things here, and it can really raise the profile of our organization, our region and the artists who work in it,” Jackie and Steve Kane Artistic Director Jacob Janssen said. “And our audience can be on the lookout for more new plays to come in 2026 and beyond.”
Performances take place through Oct. 12, Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm. A Friday matinee on Oct. 3, 2 pm, will be followed by a post-show conversation.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit thirdavenueplayworks.org/ryans-pub-trivia-night or call 920.743.1760. TAP’s Steve and Jackie Kane Theatre is located at 239 N. 3rd Ave. in Sturgeon Bay.