Cast of Lunchbox’s Every Christmas Story Ever Told
Squeezing Every Christmas Story Ever Told into a Lunchbox
Christmas cheer fills the air black ice fills the streets and holiday plays of assorted flavours fill the stages. Theatre Calgary will of course be showing A Christmas Carol Alberta Theatre Projects has Oliver Twist and the smaller theatres are sensibly taking some time off to be with their families. Proudly circling “none of the above” Lunchbox theatre is taking a decidedly different tack this year. It’s staging Every Christmas Story Ever Told. In 45 minutes. Top that.
“(It’s) the story of three actors who have the opportunity to do A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and dissension in the ranks kind of sets them off on this tangent” says Scott McAdam one of the play’s three leads. “They decide they’re sick and tired of doing the same old story all the time and they want to tell the stories they want to tell rather than A Christmas Carol which they feel is overdone.”
A Christmas story for the slavering brood of Generation X (we prefer Internet Generation thanks) Every Christmas Story begins with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and makes its way toward the more traditional holiday canon. With a script sucking in its original girth to squeeze into the uh pants of Lunchbox’s timeslot Every Christmas Story promises a breakneck pace — like a shot of mistletoe and adrenaline to the heart — to go along with audiences’ soups and sandwiches.
“It’s a Christmastime action movie” jokes Cory Hicks another of the play’s leads . “It’s just giving people something different to watch something to add on as they go to see the usual Christmas Carol or Oliver Twist . It’s different. It’s fast-paced.”
“It’s a satisfying quickie” McAdam adds. “It’s not quite as precious as some Christmas performances. There’s some college frat house undertones to all of it. It’s a fun expression of all the stories. I think it’s funny so I think people in their early 20s are really going to get a lot of the references. It’s less traditional and more conventional.”
It’s a perfect Christmastime choice for those who want to sit in a dark room turn their brains off and chow a tortilla while watching three guys crack wise about the holidays before they go home and blow off some steam murdering aliens on their Xbox. Every Christmas Story doesn’t dare add to your already back-breaking load of holiday stressors. For some this kind of demand-nothing theatre mentality will be as welcome a holiday harbinger as delicious eggnog.
“It’s not anything heavy” says McAdam. “It’s something that can be absolutely enjoyed and it’ll refresh you. It’s not going to change people or make them take a look at the way they live their lives. It’s something a young professional can come see then go back to the office feeling reinvigorated.”
“Well maybe not your performance” jokes Tyler Rive the other lead. “Lunchbox Theatre fills that downtown niche really well. People can just come in and see a nice piece of theatre on their lunch break. Sometimes that’s the only free time they have.”
