Review ‘So This Is Christmas’

Press, 13 December 1989, Page 9

Review ‘So This Is Christmas’

“So This is Christmas” written and directed by Pearl Carpenter for Riccarton Players at the Mill Theatre. December 6 to 16 at 7 p.m. Saturday matinee 2 p.m. Running time Ihr smin. Reviewed by Lindsay Clark. Riccarton Players have a wellestablished tradition of presenting a wide variety of theatre pieces over any one year. 1989 has been no exception and it is scarcely surprising that their current offering is written and directed by Pearl Carpenter especially for this festive season. Her intended audience seems to be the young, but very young children (perhaps under seven) may be out of their depth with the fragmented structure of the

play. An ordinary living room, an ordinary mum decorating a tree — down the chimney tumbles a spritely little alien. In the course of the ensuing conversation the inevitable question is asked, “What is Christmas?” Thus begins an explanation which is less concerned with the spirit of love and joy most celebrants associate with the festival than the retelling of the biblical story from Gabriel’s declarations onwards. A big, willing, but often inexperienced cast helped move the story along. Some lively crowd work was unfortunately concentrated into the incidental moments of it, and the insertion of slapstick events did not quite succeed in the leavening needed,

although much well-intentioned to-ing and fro-ing took place. To some extent this deficit was compensated for by effective work from the lighting (Brian Byas) and fly floor (Doug Clarke, Bill Milliken). Visually there were some excellent moments, not always easy to achieve in a small theatre.

• In spite of the earnest storytelling and sincere commitment of the players, the production did not realy begin to answer the initial question posed. While the time-travel machine of the space visitors and the rampant vernacular of the crowd should have brought the concept closer to us, the spirit of the season enshrined in the famous story failed to do more than flicker.