Rishi Varma, playwright of the new Off-Broadway show “Sulfur Bottom” has an important message to deliver to his viewers. Factories that promised to bring jobs and prosperity to communities are leaking dangerous chemicals into the ground. People are being poisoned, getting sick and dying. The environmental message is crucial; however, Varma’s debut play falls short. In fact, the 90 minute production at The Jerry Orbach Theater is so muddled that the viewer leaves with more unanswered questions about the story itself than concerns about the issue.

The play focuses on three generations of a family, Sir Calvin (Kevin Richard Best) and his sister Melissa (Joyah Dominique,) Calvin’s daughter Fran ( Kendyl Davis) and her daughter Maeve (Feyisola Soetan). Over the years, the local factory has been dumping poisons in the ground and members of Sir Calvin’s family have gotten ill.

The house is ramshackle and falling apart but it is their home, even though what’s underneath may be killing them. Despite talk of selling the house, each opts to remain. The production is low-budget and the actors use tarps for their ‘ugly’ rug. At times, the show feels amateurish. The stage is small and crowded and the performers have little room to move.

Some of the storyline is creative. Characters transcend time and get to observe and even interact with their relatives. Fran listens as her father and aunt talk when she was a small baby. She learns that her father’s actions were all centered around providing a better future for her. Later Maeve is able to meet with her grandfather and mother from beyond the grave.

But there are aspects of the play that are never made clear. It begins with a dead deer (played by one of the actors) lying on the table of the living room. What is the purpose of a whale terrorizing the town? Why does young Maeve choose to stay in the house that sickens her with her deceased relatives? I didn't know so I found myself thinking more about the answers to those questions than the playwright’s concerns about the environment.

Perhaps playwright Varma needs more time to revise his play. Especially if he wanted to reach his audience and maybe get us to act.