Review: WINDFALL at Bay Street Theater

There is nothing like starting off Summer with a great comedy, especially one that you cannot guess what is going to happen next and gets better the longer you stay with it! If you are looking for an evening of fun, laughs and even reflection on the human condition, Windfall is the play for you!

After three long years of digital and distant performances, Bay Street (located in Sag Harbor, NY) is back with a full season of wonderful LIVE entertainment! Kicking off the 2022 Summer Season is a new play directed by comedy legend Jason Alexander (or as many people know him as the iconic George Constanza from Seinfeld) called Windfall. Written by Scooter Pietsch, (an Emmy Nominated Composer and playwright), the play follows five employees who are miserable in their jobs at a Data Entry firm in Columbus, Ohio. When one of the employees envisions that they all become multi-millionaires through playing the lottery, things quickly get out of hand.

When you first walk into the theater, you are greeted with a well-done office-looking set that fits perfectly within Bay Street's theater space. This is not your typical regional set piece, it is clear how much passion and love went into the set. Although it's a pretty standard office, the wide-open nature of the set really allowed for the actors to use the space and help demonstrate one of the show's best qualities: the physicality.

All the actors throughout the show's two-and-a-half-hour runtime had their moments where they were allowed to perform their own specific types of physical comedy. I rather not spoil the ratchet and dark things (yes, but it is a comedy!) that the characters do to themselves or each other, but each of the actors never fell short of amazing. Throughout the whole show, there is energy, excitement, and lots of physical comedy! Jason Alexander's energy as a performer is felt from start to finish in this production!

Spencer Garett nailed his role as the rude yet teachable boss, Glenn Barron. We all have that person in our lives with a superiority complex that we disdain (to put it mildly) and Glenn is that person in the play. Ironically, sometimes they do teach us lessons that help us become better people. Glenn, although unlikeable, is that character.

Ro Boddie plays Galvan, a long-time employee and a man of faith who convinces the group to buy thousands of dollars of lottery tickets because of a vision he had. Ro delivered a captivating monologue near the end of Act One that gave great depth to his character, setting up the rest of the story in a beautiful (and dark) way.

Talia Thiesfield plays Jacqueline Vanderbilt, a new employee who ropes herself into the lottery scheme. Especially in Act Two, Talia has great comedic outbursts and physical comedy moments. I would be amiss to not mention Dylan S. Wallach who led the show with his physicality as the broke alcoholic employee, Chris; especially because he was constantly hurt and in pain for the duration of Act Two. I definitely felt a lot of Jason Alexander's energy in Chris' character.

Badia Farha plays Kate, who oversees daily operations in the office. With witty one-liners and great delivery, Badia plays her part to a tee and keeps the audience in stitches. Finally, the insecure character Hannah is played by Abigail Isom. In Act One especially, Abigail conveys the insecurity of her financial situation with work hanging in the balance which results in a tense and over-the-top performance that really underscores the character's true colors.

Act One of the play runs around seventy minutes and can feel a bit long. However, Act One's set-up and development of each of the characters' backstories sets up for a strong and comedic Act Two. Each of the characters is vastly different from each other and has complex personalities that each cast member plays superbly and brings to life, especially since the play is always rapidly changing its tone. Most of the play is a comedy, but themes of human greed make you come out of the play thinking about the human condition and how money can turn a good group of people into very VERY bad people (especially if tipped off by a horrible boss!) if it could allow them to escape their dreadful jobs. But things never get too serious in the play, as when it does, Scooter Pietsch uses redirection to keep the play from becoming too dark.

There are some smaller issues I have with the production. One is the lighting which was used sparingly in the production highlighting only some dramatic moments (and hectic ones!). I feel that this lighting could have been used more freely to make the play more immersive. For example, there are some scenes in which characters have aside moments. I think in those moments, the lights should have been focused on those monologues or aside moments to highlight and add tension to these asides. In addition, sometimes I thought the jokes were a bit off-kilter, especially a joke in act two that speaks of an explicit sex act that felt out of touch and a bit forced. These moments did not happen often, but when they did, I could not help but feel a little awkward.

Overall, Windfall is an absolute Summer delight that makes you leave the theater thinking about human greed... but also laughing. That's important too, and you will definitely find that in Windfall!

 

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