Bread and Wine Theatre Company presentsA Christmas Short Play Festival at the Historic Sappington House in Crestwood. The production is led by the artistic director and producer, Owen Brown.
I love Christmas! If you love Christmas the way I do, you are in for the most enjoyable holiday treat ever. I went home with that warm fuzzy holiday feeling. Now, there are five one-act plays in the festival. The plays are performed in the library building on the grounds of the Sappington house. The plays are in a cozy theater- in- the round staging. All five plays have some themes of reminiscence, joy, regret, and even a bit of revenge, however, the greatest challenge is the characters compassion for, giving.
In the first play, The Long Christmas Dinner, by the American playwright, Thornton Wilder, we watch, The Bayard family traverse a series of Christmas dinners over ninety years. This is the longest short play in the series. The director, Owen Brown, is a Wilder scholar and it shows. Brown and stage manager, Lisa Pearson, effortlessly dismantles the stage props with briskness, precision, care, and without distracting from the performance. The performance continued without even noticing the scene shifts. They are good. The entire cast is superb. Watching Bo Hanley, Haley Clegg, and Adam Usry play multiple characters while maturing through life is totally amazing to witness.
Next, Bosco’s Xmas by Carol Berman is making its world premiere in the Christmas festival. It is another short play, very short, nonetheless ,also very funny. Bosco is a cat who lays around and plots on what to give to his owners for Christmas. Bosco feels that he has not been given the full undivided attention of his owners all year, so he plans to give them the perfect Christmas present. If anyone has ever owned a cat especially at Christmas time, then you can imagine the gift. The director Travis Pfeifer and Micheal Cox created the most hilarious scene with a bench and one small Christmas tree. The pacing was excellent and so was the cat costume.
In Baked Alaska, by Kelli Lynn Woodend, three rehab residents are on a Christmas shopping trip with their case manager. Each resident has been given twenty five dollar gift cards to be used to purchase gifts for their children. While shopping, Clementine, played with excellence by Jordan Matt-Zeitler, develops a fixation on a toy kitchen set. The kitchen set reminds him of a fabulous dessert his mother cooked, Baked Alaska, she prepared this dessert in a similar style kitchen. As Clementine flashes back on a happier time in his life, the other characters in the scene played convincingly by Conor Malone, Hannah Lindsey, and John Emery decide to, selflessly, give to Clementine so that he can relive a happy Christmas memory.
The Last Mall Santa by Michael Cox is set in a dying shopping mall . Santa is played by Jordan Matt-Zeitler. Santa is dressed in a flimsy and loose Santa suit. There are no long lines of children waiting to share their Christmas list and take photos with Santa. The mall is empty. With so much free time on his hands ,Santa has plenty of free time to reflect over his life. He reflects on how the mall was once a thriving and bustling shopping destination and how he once had a successful career. Now, his life like the mall, is empty. Then he gets an unexpected visit from a young girl named, Hope, played charmingly by, Riley Schelembauer, who gives him hope that Santa is still relevant.
Finally, The Gift Of The Magi, directed by Travis Pfeifer follows a financially strapped newlywed couple who struggle to give each other Christmas presents. Livy Potthoff and Michale Cox give a most authentic portrayal of the loving couple beautifully directed by Travis Pfeifer. When the couple is faced with the dilemma of how to finance their gifts to each other, they both give up possessions that are very near and dear to them.
Elizabeth Hale is the costume assistant. Sally Cakouros is the production assistant and space coordinator. Bo Hanley is set and prop assistant. Job well done!
I thoroughly enjoyed every single play in this series. The entire cast and crew is amazing! I was most impressed how the theme of giving is woven in all the stories. The After all that is what the spirit of Christmas is all about. So, if you are looking for some clean and uncomplicated Christmas cheer, please go and see, A Christmas Short Play Festival at Historic Sappington House December 11-13.