“Windfall” reviews by A Bresloff and a second by Paul Lisnek, Curtain Call Chicago

**** How much is a child worth? That is a question that is the subject matter for Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Windfall” now on stage in the  Arena Style theater at Steppenwolf called “The Ensemble Theatre”. The seating in this venue makes it perfect for great sight lines, as the seats go from even with the stage and rise towards what is called the second floor. Part of having a theater like this is the limited set one can create to bring the illusions to light.

Since this is a play that deals with protests and deaths that come from such protests, the majority of “set” is on the walls of the theater itself with protests signs and “Black Lives Matter” from the very onset. In fact when we went into the venue, we watched as signs of protest were being hung, and before the curtain ( there is no curtain- just lighting) rose , we did see some of the cast members “doing their thing”. Jon Michael Hill, Namir Smallwood and Esco Jouley. I wasn’t sure who was who and what they were protesting, but I knew they were setting a tone for this production.

Our location is the home of Henry “Mr. Mano” Tamano ( played to perfection by Michael Potts). We meet him along with the “ghost” of his son, Marcus ( deftly handled by Glenn Davis), who he sees and talks to throughout the play. Under the special direction of Awoye Timpo, who understand the use of an arena stage and makes sure that no section of the audience gets stuck seeing actors backs for any long periods, we get to understand that it seems another son Eli ( Esco Jouley), is dead and the city is ready to settle with Mr. Tamano. While Marcus tells his dad to “take the money”, he is not happy with this being the only alternative.

When visited by three different women, all played with amazing energy by Alana Arenas ( first lady/city, second lady, county, and the last one, a combination of the other two) we witness the first offer, the second lady is there to advise that since he didn’t pay his property taxes, they are foreclosing and will sell his home to cover the debt. While he still has no proof that Eli is in fact dead, and feels that taking the money is the coward’s way, we watch as he and Marcus talk about money versus grief. If he takes the money, he will think about all that Eli and his group worked against being winners, and all of his protests will have been for naught. It is the almighty dollar versus the causes that are hurting those who are not as privledged.

The play is a clever look at something we know exists, but from a different perspective than most of us might see otherwise. Again, being an “arena” stage, there is very little set, but the lighting (Jason Lynch), sound (Willow James) and Music (Asiel Hardison/consultant and Mahmoud Khan/Director) add to the overall production. The costumes (Qween Jean) were what one might expect from protesters, parents of a protester , a ghost son and the three ladies that come to try and pay off Mr. Tamano.

There were a few periods where the cast got the audience involved in the play. Early with their phones, using the flashlight ( so despite them telling you to turn it off, don’t- better just silencing) and in the second act, there is the flashlight again ,as well as some hand clapping and foot stomping. They truly immerse the audience in these cases and the play became even better.

“Windfall”    will continue thru May 31 with performances as follows:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm;

Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm;

Sundays at 3 pm.

Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, April 14, Wednesday, April 22, Tuesday, April 28, Tuesday, May 5, Saturday, May 9 (Steppenwolf Gala) and Tuesday, May 26; there will not be at 3 pm performance on Saturday, May 9 (Steppenwolf Gala);; there will be an added 2 pm matinee on Wednesday, May 20.

Tickets: Single tickets for Windfall ($20 – $148.50*) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale at steppenwolf.org/memberships: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they’re sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour:  Sunday, May 24 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, May 16 at 3 pm & Thursday, May 21 at 7:30 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, May 29 at 7:30 pm

This production is onstage in the Ensemble Theatre at 1650 N. Halsted in Chicago

Parking is metered on the street, and there is the Steppenwolf Garage, just to the South of the theater

Don’t forget, Steppenwolf has a café in the building

Run Time: two hours and 10 minutes including a 15 minute intermission

photos by Michael Bosilow

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Windfall”.

Here is a second look at “Windfall”

Paul Lisnek, Curtain Call Chicago

****/4

“Windfall” is daring, intense and incredibly relevant!

Windfall is the sort of play that reminds you why Academy Award Winner and Windfall playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney is one of the American theater’s most vital writers: he does not just dramatize grief, he gives it shape, rhythm and impact. We read regularly of young men of color killed by cops and the main consequence is a check written by the city to put that matter to rest. But as a city council votes time after time to approve such measures, have we ever considered the pain and anguish that a family goes thru in deciding whether to let a child’s death be compensated for with the acceptance of money? And McCraney takes that consequential moment for a family even further. He offers a look at a city that in the end, seeks to profit from Black suffering….Windfall is, in the end, a civic reckoning for us all.

The setup:  A father, emotionally shattered by the killing of his son (not the first child he has lost either), is approached with a settlement check in exchange for silence, relocation and, most grotesquely, the promise of emotionally (if not just physically) “moving on”, as tho that could ever be possible. The metaphor resounds loudly. This offer of a financial transaction is the heart or moral center of the play which is indeed set in Chicago a not inappropriate venue for such a moment. And for this city, it’s rightly set here and it hits home hard. And by the way, the audience does not just observe the action.  Its voice is heard at the encouragement of the characters and this brings the audience into the reality in an unexpected and impactful way. I’m not sure you would call this an immersive play, but it certainly demands more than watching from the sidelines.  This is not a simple protest play; it’s a search, an inquiry into whether justice can ever be reduced to compensation.

Michael Potts (playing Henri “Mr. Mano” Tamano) gives the production its emotional and parental anchor, performed both with power and a careful and even remarkable restraint. Her performance is a contained pressure at first, perhaps better described as a compressed pain, something nearly unendurable, but ultimately released into a full moment of reckoning. Potts never asks for sympathy; but he earns it with a powerful portrayal of a father’s anguish.

Around him, Glenn Davis (Marcus), Alana Arenas (scene stealing as First Lady, Miss Second and the Last One) and Esco Jouley (Eli) create a world that is realistic, yet haunting. Davis, in particular, brings an intelligence to the stage which helps sharpen and focus the play’s debate without diminishing it into simple argument.  The entire ensemble forces the production to control its power like taking a deep and difficult series of breaths.

Director Awoye Timpo directs the play to maintain a consistent level of control so that when its moments of explosion occur, the moment is emphasized to its dramatic fullest. She directs this play like it’s a storm, gathering until it unleashes on this family and on society. Her confidence serves the material well.

Windfall does not offer a comforting or soothing message. It does not ask you to like it.  Why should it? Instead it requires you to reckon with it. Indeed, McCraney is too intelligent a writer to offer consolation where there can be none, to pretend money can heal what racism has broken. By the way, the play’s title is itself a bitter irony because what is presented here is not a windfall at all; rather, it’s a fraudulent means of covering guilt with money, as if such a thing could ever offer resolution. By the end, the production resolves its ultimate conflict, nevertheless leaving us both uneasy and uncomfortable.

This is moving theater.  Windfall stands out for the force of its writing, its intelligence and the gravity of its performances.

Windfall runs thru May 31^st and tickets can be purchased at: www.Steppenwolf.org

see schedule above

Paul M. Lisnek, J.D., Ph.D.