Theater Review: "Season's Greetings" by WCSU Dept. of Theatre Arts

“Season’s Greetings” was presented on the MainStage Theatre at Western CT State University for one weekend only. I managed to squeeze into my calendar the final performance, which featured performances by the understudies in the cast. The show was directed by Broadway star and Tony Award winner Cady Huffman, and produced by the Department of Theatre Arts at WCSU.

The play was written by Alan Ayckbourn in 1980 is perfect for holiday lovers, and holiday loathers, alike.

Half a dozen friends and relatives are celebrating Christmas with Neville and Belinda. Petty squabbles break out and some are not so petty.

The arrival of Clive, a young writer, leads to what momentarily appears to be a tragedy: Clive is shot by trigger-happy Harvey who thinks he is a burglar.

Highlights include a chaotically incompetent puppet show and a midnight love scene that sets off a fearful din among mechanical Christmas toys.

At the understudy performance on Sunday, WCSU senior Becca Ferante from Norwalk covered the role of Belinda, who endures a stale marriage to Neville. She shared the role with Raissatou Karim. Zayda Greer played the role of Phyllis, Bernard's wife who drinks, a role she shared with Erin Hager.

First year student Zachary Spreng understudied two roles, that of Harvey and Neville. At the understudy performance, Spreng covered the part of Harvey, Neville and Phyllis's uncle, a cantankerous man in his mainstage debut. Jackson Tubis played his original role of Neville, Phyllis's brother. Harvey was played by Mike Moriarty at the other performances.

Sophomore Justin Villard from Stamford got to shine in the role of Bernard, the role of the doctor/puppeteer he shared with Khalik Mumtaz.

Senior Grace Goosman (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) got to go on in the role of Rachel, Belinda's emotionally fuddled sister, who was played by Beno Urena at the previous performances.

First year student Colby Groves of Woodstock understudied both Eddie and Clive, and played Clive at the understudy performance. The role of Eddie, a lackluster and lazy man, was played by Zachary Brown and the author Clive was played by Ben Elliot at the other performances.

Junior Marianne Grossmann got to go on in the role of the very pregnant Pattie. Pattie was played by Olivia Lanteri at the other shows.

Elizabeth Popiel designed the huge set that filled the entire stage at the VPAC. The lead set painter was Cavin Golisano and Isabel Sterling collected all of the prop food required in the script. Scott Cally designed the lighting for the show and Ben Warner was in charge of sound design. I had a bit of difficulty understanding some of the lines, delivered in British accents. There was a page in the program with a helpful glossary of British terms that are included in the script.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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