If you catch a whiff of strong fishy odor in the streets of Boston these days, you may be near the Boston University Boston Playwrights Theatres production of Windowmen. Steven Barkhimers new play certainly has a powerful flavor, but it may be best described as an acquired taste.
Somewhere in between a comedy, a drama and an expose, Windowmen promises a gritty peek behind the scenes of the Fulton Fish Market. At its prime, the Fulton Fish Market was the major supplier of wholesale fresh fish to New York City and the five boroughs, opening early each morning to allow bluefish, flounder and halibut to change hands along with a veritable fortune in cash before it closed in 2005.
With Fulton Fish Market as the pungent setting, Windowmen depicts the conflict and camaraderie that festers in the one-room office of the market, as workers man the service window through which the money passes. Fresh out of undergraduate school, philosophy major and math minor Kenny (Alex Pollock) is new to the job market and hopelessly lost until Vic (Brandon Whitehead), an inveterate windowman and swindler, takes him under his wing.
Gradually, Kenny begins to realize that, no matter how many equations he may have solved in college, he is no match for the kinds of numbers that hit these cash registers. With hundreds of dollars going unaccounted for every other day, it seems that crates of salmon and sole arent the only things that are fishy in the market.
Yet if this premise is intriguing, the world and words of Windowmen are not. Though the playbill protests that names have been changed and the plot dramatized, Windowmen is quite blatantly based on Barkhimers own experiences working at the Fulton Fish Market, and to say that the play feels autobiographical is an understatement. Windowmen not only seems to draw on Barkhimers past, but also practically oozes with nostalgia for it.
Unfortunately, Barkhimers attachment to the material seems to hinder his artistic rendering of it. A surplus of sentimental details takes over, dampening the sizzling of the plays irreverent one-liners with an overwhelming wistfulness. For example, the name of the fictional fish market is Turner Point Fish, a not-so-subtle reference to the turning point that occurs in Kennys life during his stint at the market.
The overly affectionate characterizations of Vic and Al (the strict boss, played by Will Lyman) portray the men as dishonest but likeable. Rather than provoking compelling questions of right or wrong, however, this choice traps the characters in a swamp of moral ambiguity, leaving audience members to wonder, So what? at the end of all their sordid drama.
The dialogue is generally sharp and witty, if viewers can overlook the few melodramatic lines that threaten to make Windowmen predictable. The work as a whole is by no means obnoxious, yet this coming-of-age piece may need more development to become the crisp, dark comedy it promises to be.
The best part about the Boston Playwrights Theatres production of Windowmen is that director Brett Marks and the cast and crew do such an impressive job with this new material. Whitehead breathes life into his scenes, delivering chuckle-worthy moments throughout the duration of the piece. Pollock, too, delivers a solid performance, though Lyman seems occasionally uncertain, as if he isnt quite up to the task of playing Al a ruthless and all-knowing businessman.
Designed by Anthony Phelps, the set is small, cramped and claustrophobic just right for the all-too-intimate atmosphere where coworkers become conspirators. For his part, Marks utilizes the space remarkably well and the little stage lends a sense of intimacy to the action.
Oscillating between charming and sappy, Windowmen will not be everyones kettle of fish. Still, good acting and bright moments of humor help make the production palatable.
Windowmen will be playing at the Boston Playwrights Theatre until Nov. 24. Student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or by calling (866) 811-4111.
