Bay Street Theatre to Stage THE GRIFT: A PRACTICE IN THE ART OF DECEPTION

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts will present The Grift, an immersive, site-specific theater experience throughout Sag Harbor village. The Grift is conceived, written, and directed by Tom Salamon, and premiered in San Diego in 2015 before opening to acclaim in London in 2018. Performances begin Thursday, March 17, and continue through Sunday, April 3, with six shows each week. Masks and proof of vaccination are required for entry. Tickets start at $39 and are available through the Box Office by calling 631 725 9500 Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 24/7 at baystreet.org.

Part theater and part game, The Grift is an immersive, site-specific experience beginning and ending at Bay Street, and moving through several locations nearby in Sag Harbor. Dropping its audience of 50 per show into the middle of an adventure in which they are trained in the art of the con, participants meet characters, solve clues, and get a master class in the ways of the grifter, all in the interest of pulling off one final grift to take down a seamy criminal mastermind. Audiences will have their intelligence tested and get trained in scams like The Pig In The Poke, The Round-The-Corner, and The Money Swap-but will they be sharp enough to take down an evil genius at his own game?

The Grift premiered in 2015 to rave reviews and to sold-out performances in San Diego, produced by the Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse. Writer-director Tom Salamon makes his return after his other immersive UK successes, Accomplice (produced by the Tony Award-winning Menier Chocolate Factory) and Goosebumps Alive (The Vaults at Waterloo).

"I'm thrilled to be returning to the 'seen-it-all' sophisticated audiences of the Hamptons and across Long Island," says Salamon. "They're up for anything and love to get involved and play along, and I think we're giving them something entirely unique that they haven't experienced before."

An experience unlike anything ever performed on a stage, The Grift sweeps its audience into a thrilling adventure, turning everyday theatergoers into master cons. And when the show ends? They're released into the world with a whole new skill set-one that can pay off for years to come.

Tom Salamon has been in the immersive experience world for 13 years, starting with his first show Accomplice: New York, widely regarded as a pioneering and influential work in the early days of immersive theater. In the years since, he has written and directed work in New York, London, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and produced work with Tony Award-winning theaters such as La Jolla Playhouse and Menier Chocolate Factory, as well as co-produced shows with Tony Award-winner Neil Patrick Harris.

In 2020, upon commission by La Jolla Playhouse, Tom wrote and directed The Wizards Of Oakwood Drive, a live, Zoom-based online experience for young audiences. It was called "absolutely enchanting...a nice reminder of what theater can do, even remotely" by The New York Times, and "breezy and funny...an ambitious production that pushed the envelope of what's possible in the virtual format," by The San Diego Union Tribune. It continues its sold out run, entertaining audiences from nearly all 50 states and as far as Australia, Mexico, Denmark, and Brazil. In addition, he has developed an online experiential campaign for Comic Con 2020 for a major streaming network with a top experiential agency.

Bay Street Theater is a fully vaccinated company. All attendance is available via touchless ticketing. All guests must show proof of vaccination and will be required to wear a mask throughout the performance. For full list of COVID-19-related safety procedures and guidelines for in-person events, please visit us online at baystreet.org.

Bay Street Theater is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center, which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. It serves as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.

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