Little Dickens, Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes, Theatre Network. Photo supplied.
By Liz Nicholls, .ca
I know, you’re holding out on the festive. And you don’t want to peak too soon. But pick that holly out of your clenched teeth, release your inner elf, succumb to the seasonal jollity, and find yourself a holiday show this weekend. There’s a big choice on Edmonton stages.
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Schnitzel as Tiny Tim, Little Dickens, Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes at Theatre Network. Photo supplied
•The great Canadian theatre artist Ronnie Burkett has brought the magic of his company of marionette actors — and the virtuosity that makes them live and breathe — to Theatre Network. In Little Dickens the cast of the Daisy Theatre, a marionette cabaret with a recurring ensemble of 56 (!) exquisitely crafted characters dressed to the nines, do their own version of A Christmas Carol. It’s a clever, raucous, playfully bawdy affair, semi-improvised by the playwright/ actor/marionettist/ director/ designer (with assistance from a few game volunteers from the audience). Little Dickens is, quite simply, a riot and a spirit-raiser. And you should on no account miss it. It runs through Dec. 22. Tickets: theatrenetwork.ca. Have a peek at the review here (and a preview interview with the perpetrator and string-puller here.
A Christmas Carol, Citadel Theatre. 2023 photo by Nanc Price.
•At the Citadel, where the tradition of A Christmas Carol on the mainstage is 25 years old, Lianna Makuch’s lavish production of the repertoire’s most famous ghost story continues through Dec. 24. The adaptation by playwright David van Belle, set in 1949, finds the frozen-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge (John Ullyatt) as the proprietor of Marley’s department store, implacably rooted to the bottom line. Beautiful costumes, a cunning set, lots of music from the secular post-war repertoire, a live onstage band: it’s deluxe. The entire run is dedicated to Julien Arnold, whose unexpected death during a preview performance of the show, while in the role of the joyful Christmas party host Mr. Fezziwig, has shocked and saddened the valiant director and cast of the production. Tickets: citadeltheatre.com.
The Blank Who Stole Christmas, Rapid Fire Theatre. Photo supplied.
•Rapid Fire Theatre’s original holiday musical The Blank Who Stole Christmas has returned for a third holly jolly season,. Partly scripted, partly improvised, the production features a different guest villain every performance, who plays a character of their choice, a mystery to the cast of improvisers until they step onstage. By report, the Blanks have included Tiny Tim, which tells you something about the improv expertise of the Rapid Fire cast. There are three versions of the show, calibrated for age, sensibility, and susceptibility to the F-bomb. These details, as well as tickets, are available at rapidfiretheatre.com. Through Dec. 22 at RFT’s Exchange Theatre.
Evan Dowling in Die Harsh The Christmas Musical, Grindstone Theatre. Photo by Adam Goudreau.
•Returning this very weekend, for a third figgy pudding season is Grindstone Theatre’s festive holiday tradition, Die Harsh the Christmas Musical. This is what happens when the musical comedy-writing team that gave the world Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer and thunderCats — Byron Martin and Simon Abbott — intertwine their favourite Christmas movie to A Christmas Carol. It’s at the Orange Hub (10045 156 St.) through Dec. 29. Read all about it this PREVIEW interview with Martin, here. Tickets: grindstonetheatre.ca.
Krampus: A New Musical, Straight Edge Theatre at Workshop West. Photo by David Son.
•Ah yes, the festive Yuletide season, a favourite for connoisseurs of family dysfunction. Krampus: A New Musical, by the musical comedy team of Stephen Allred and Seth Gilfillan (Conjoined), cuts through the eggnog. Let’s just say their indie theatre company isn’t called Straight Edge Theatre for nothing. Krampus premiered at the summer Fringe in 2022, which kinda gets at its insurrectionist spirit. The production, enhanced for the mainstage, is part of the Workshop West Playwrights Theatre season at the Gateway Theatre (8529 84 Ave.). It runs through Dec. 22. Tickets: workshopwest.org. Have a peek at the PREVIEW.
The Best Little Newfoundland Christmas Pageant Ever, Whizgiggling Productions. 2022 photo supplied.
•Welcome to the Rock. Whizgiggling Productions, the indie theatre named after the irresistible Newfoundland lingo for acting silly — it’s not a disclaimer, it’s a proud mantra — returns this weekend with the 15th annual edition of their signature holiday show. The Best Little Newfoundland Pageant … Ever (adapted from the much-loved Barbara Robinson novel) takes us behind the scenes of the high-stress world of amateur theatricals.
The replacement director of the annual Christmas pageant is dismayed to find that the dread Herdmans, “the worst kids in school,” show up for the auditions and claim all the best parts. Can disaster be averted? It’s at the Backstage Theatre Friday through Sunday. Tickets: fringetheatre.ca.
•And if sight of falling snow has lost its lustre for you (even more than the sound of Mariah Carey) you can go on holiday, and hang out pool-side at a Mexican all-inclusive, with Girl Brain. Weekend at Girlies is the holiday offering from Edmonton’s favourite female sketch comedy trio, at Theatre Network’s Roxy. No sunscreen required. It runs through Dec. 22. Tickets: theatrenetwork.com.
Cycle, by and starring Andrew Ritchie, Thou Art Here Theatre. Photo by Mat Simpson
•An intrepid snow transcendent offering for the festive season, Andrew Ritchie’s Cycle, a Thou Art Here Theatre production, is all about movement, bicycles, the joy of cycling in every season, and what it means to live in a city. It runs through Dec. 22 at Mile Zero Dance, 9931 78 Ave. Tickets: fringetheatre.ca.
