THE FARNDALE AVENUE HOUSING ESTATE TOWNSWOMEN’S GUILD DRAMATIC SOCIETY’S PRODUCTION OF “A CHRISTMAS CAROL” – Written by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin, Jr.; Directed by Richard R. Cowden. Produced by The Aurora Fox (presented at Aurora Fox Arts Center, 9900 East Colfax, Aurora) through December 21. Tickets available at AuroraFox ArtsCenter.org.
“This is not good theatre. This is bad theatre, done incredibly well.” So describes David McGillivray, one of the playwrights of the whole series of Ferndale plays. Inspired by a theatre group in which his mother participated, he created this fictional (but realistic) company of women who periodically butcher one of the classic theatrical productions. Starting with the Scottish play in a highly successful production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1975, they have risen to international heights as “the ladies” take on more of the classics.
It is reported that ten of these outrageous scripts exist, but despite diligent research, this writer has only been able to locate five of them. The first was their original success with MACBETH, where they defied the slings and arrows of outrageous drama. These were followed by FAHETGS’s MURDER AT CHECKMATE MANOR in the manner (whoops!) of Agatha Christie; FAHETGS’s MIKADO (with pity for Gilbert and Sullivan), the current production of FAHETGS’s CHRISTMAS CAROL and the latest, FAHETGS’s THE HAUNTED THROUGH-LOUNGE AND RECESSED DINING NOOK AT FARNDALE CASTLE.
All scripts are in typical British humor, sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure to American audiences. They have gotten so used to being misunderstood by members of the audience that they have written into the plays the spectacle of people leaving the theatre before the intermission in confusion over what was happening on stage. Brits love to laugh at their own ridiculousness; these playwrights have capitalized on that warped sense of humor. They have also built lasting joy into their scripts by using the same five characters to play multiple – and often inappropriate roles – in each of their productions.
In this version, relative newcomer Kathy Trageser plays the organizer of the group and the Grande Dame of the company. As she arrives, she greets her friends in the audience and engages people in conversation. Turns out she’s stalling because some of the cast is stuck in traffic on I-25 and can’t get to the theatre right away. But – not to worry – she’ll get the stage manager (Erik Sandvold) to step in, if necessary. But Thelma, the lead actress (she plays Scrooge in an elegant costume indicative of her significant position in the company) (Kate Gleason) arrives in the nick of time. Kate Poling plays Felicity, the slightly aging ingenue who seems a bit disillusioned with her roles in this production and finds solace in a bottle. The cast is finished off with David Stallings in drag as Mercedes, the actual ingenue who is silly, young and inexperienced.
The story progresses with the familiar script as the actors’ morph into Jacob Marley, the Cratchit family, Nephew Fred and his wife, the various ghosts and Tiny Tim through quick costume changes (which, more or less, are successfully accomplished). Props and furniture get moved off and on stage as things get left behind, break when used, or need to be quickly brought on mid-scene. If you’ve ever seen one of the “Goes Wrong” plays, it’s like that. On steroids.
It’s a difficult script to pull off, but this cast does a good job with the slapstick humor and the Murphy’s Law modus operandi (anything that can go wrong, will). They fearlessly plod forward, determined to finish, but forgetting lines and getting upset with each other on stage. Actors miss cues, skip pages, and lose props; scenery falls apart; and still the show must go on.
A warning to my theatre friends if you go: Buy your tickets under an assumed name! They have spies and find someone in the audience each evening to bring up on stage to “share” a scene and win a prize. They are prone to choose people they know.
But, all in all, it’s a funny show that pranks a holiday favorite in a way that will not spoil your enjoyment of the original. For an unsentimental break in the festivities that make up December, this one will tickle your funny bone and jingle your bells.
A WOW factor of 8.25!!