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Canberra Today 17°/20° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Review / Lessons in humanity from Christmas play

 

(Left to right) Vivien Murray, Kieren Larkin, Robert Shiells, Sophie Schiliro and Ethan Gumbrell. Photo by Philip Meddows
(Left to right) Vivien Murray, Kieren Larkin, Robert Shiells, Sophie Schiliro and Ethan Gumbrell. Photo by Philip Meddows
IN a clever deconstruction of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl,” Beatrix Potter’s “The Tailor of Gloucester” and Robert Lewis May’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, playwright Kirsty Budding and a talented cast of over 50 young people take on questions of empathy and humanity that should be front and centre stage during the Christmas season.

To begin, with an abortive effort on the part of the hapless narrator, Robert Shiells recites Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” The audience is confronted by a quartet of apparently selfish, heartless children whose only understanding of Christmas is material pleasure – a new iPad for instance – that Santa may bring.

But just as in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, the protagonists are forced to confront their own selfishness and a happy ending is guaranteed, though not before the four young people are transported to a distant land where people grow their own crops and make their own entertainment. At first they think they’re in a reality TV show, but they learn otherwise.

Their transformation takes place through the agency of the character, Innocent, played with shining eloquence by Oliver Durbridge. Together with the huge cast, he leads them through the three stories.

Last night the “Little Match Girl” was played quietly by Matilda Watts, who alternates with Jessica Manclark. But it is the well-cast passing parade of snobs, gamblers and just one sympathetic child that catches our attention.

To cheer his listeners up, Innocent next chooses a happier tale in which an ageing, impoverished tailor (Austen Saunders) oversees an unlikely alliance between a trio of hard-working mice and his highly expressive cat, Simkin (Brenton Cleaves).

The last story takes us onto the reindeer catwalk as four young fashionista reindeer pour scorn on anyone who doesn’t wear green – poor Rudolph, you can imagine what colour he/she’s wearing, to match the nose.

But all is well, and with the help of Father Christmas (Marli Haddeill), silly Dancer and Prancer and Vixen learned that it’s better to be an individual than a slave to reindeer fashion. The evening finishes off with a rollicking around of the title song “the night before Christmas”.

This original production was staged at a high technical level and played for just under an hour. It is strongly recommended for families.

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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