WEST FARGO — On the surface, “The Guys” seems like a fairly simple play. It is two actors talking to each other for about two hours, often on a spare stage, with basic or no costumes.
It’s what they are talking about that brings depth to the work.
Anne Nelson’s raw look at a New York fire chief working with a reporter to eulogize his men who died in the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, was one of the first pieces of art to deal with that fateful day. It was staged three months after the terrorist attacks in New York.
Stage West is producing a staged reading of the show Thursday and Friday in West Fargo.
“It’s a show that is best served by its words, which are really beautifully put together. So I’m glad to do it and I think it is good for us to remember 24 years ago,” said Adam Pankow, artistic director at Stage West, earlier this week at a practice.
Actors Jeffrey Rondeau and Patti McGuire listen to some feedback from director Toni Gredensky on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, at Stage West in West Fargo during rehearsal for the play “The Guys.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
“I think the power of the story, especially 24 years later, is that it really shines a spotlight on something that was obviously monstrously significant, but over time, it just becomes, well, 9/11, right? And you start losing the awareness, but this show is like each one of these people has a story,” said Jeff Rondeau, who stars as the fire chief, Nick. “It’s not only a gift to present this story, but it’s like a responsibility to tell the story the right way that’s still honors the people who are there.”
Rondeau and Patti McGuire, who plays the journalist, Joan, were taking a break while working on the show with director Toni Gredesky.
Pankow had planned to do the show a few years ago with Gredesky, but it never came to be.
Rondeau had never seen the play, or the movie, but when he got the script a few weeks ago, he was moved by it.
“I was really struck by the opportunity Nick would have to try to paint a picture of what these eight men were like. I’ve always been struck with when someone can paint a picture and you come away feeling like, ‘Oh, I really knew this guy, or this gal.’ So I thought that was pretty powerful,” the actor said. “Having the opportunity to try to really explore not only what these eight humans were like, but also what it would be like to have that responsibility as the captain to try to explain what these brothers were like to families, so that the families would be like, ‘Wow, that was my son. That was my brother. That was my father.’ It was a real opportunity to try to bring those people to life.”
By happenstance, Rondeau was recently in New York and visited the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
“There’s a big room with every single person who died there with their pictures, right? And some of the family pictures, some of them are firemen, some are in a wedding. And each one of those pictures is someone’s life and story that’s gone,” he said.
Their lives may have ended, but their identities and their stories live on through memorials and in memories of those who knew them.
Jeffrey Rondeau reads his part in the play “The Guys” during a rehearsal on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, at Stage West in West Fargo.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
While in New York, Rondeau also visited the fire house that was closest to the World Trade Centers. He met a docent there who had been a fireman at the station and knew some of the firemen who died on Sept. 11.
“I have the opportunity, really, the privilege. It was a gift to be able to visit with a fireman now retired, who was there, who fought the fire, who lost guys, who gave a eulogy,” Rondeau said. “He just shared a portion of his life with me that really gave me from a character development standpoint, like so much to work with. I can see him, I can see the spaces. I walked the spaces when we reference West Street and the guys are running down the street. He helped me put a lot more genuineness to the portrayal and the man was amazing. Just amazing.”
Rondeau is not a firefighter, but he says his time in the Army before retiring as a major helps him relate to the sense of camaraderie in the firehouse and in action.
“I like the script because it’s not really too political, which is really tough right now, but it’s about the men, you know, and it’s about the loss,” Gredesky said. “It’s just really beautifully written.”
When the play premiered, it packed an emotional punch because it was so timely and addressed the feelings of grief and loss and uncertainty so many people were feeling. Pankow said the show still resonates, but for different reasons. While people his age and older remember exactly where they were that morning, many younger people don’t share that experience.
“There is a whole generation that doesn’t know that,” he said. “This is just one little snapshot of a million stories from that day. And I think, however we’re able to keep the tragedy and the hope and the unity, it’s important for us who were living and of an age that can remember, for us to feel the tragedy and the hope and the unity again. But I also think it’s important for those that are younger to be able to hear those little stories as well.”
He added that after Thursday night’s performance, there will be a talkback session with the actors and director to talk about the play and the significance of Sept. 11.
What: “The Guys”
When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday
Where: Stage West Studio, 300 Sheyenne St., #120
Info: These productions are “pay what you will” with a suggested donation of $10.