PLAYS AND (MINCE-MEAT) PIE

Santa on a dune buggyWestern Edge Theatre’s popular Plays and Pie series returns on December 5th with a seasonal serving.

Christmas Naughty and Nice is a series of definitely non-traditional playlets by Daniel Curzon, to be presented in a staged reading featuring some of the Nanaimo area’s finest actors, followed by a festive celebration.

“Our next mainstage show is the comedy Venus in Fur in January,” says Western Edge artistic producer Frank Moher. “Meantime, we thought we’d bring back Plays and Pie in a holiday variation. This time we’re calling it ‘Plays and Mince-Meat Pies.’”

Christmas Naughty and Nice covers a gamut of styles from the riotous to poignant as it looks at the holiday in an unconventional light. In “Honest Xmas Presents,” a family on Christmas morning give one another some unusually candid gifts. In “A Christmas Miracle at the Open Mess,” two gay army officers wonder if they can safely reveal their relationship by dancing together. “The Christmas to End All Christmases” is a variation on Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which manages to also incorporate Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Mrs. Claus, and Jesus.

And those are just three of the playlets, which come with an advisory for adult language and content.

Afterwards we’ll enjoy some festive food and drink and celebrate the season with our audience and artists,” says Moher. “We’ll have pie there as usual, but this time we’ll have other sorts of goodies as well. And there’ll be some surprises.”

Everyone is welcome. The staged reading of Christmas Naughty and Nice begins at 7:30 pm at Kismet Theatre Academy (55 Victoria Rd., Nanaimo; see map here). Admission is by donation at the door, with proceeds to Western Edge Theatre, or bring a food item for the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank and Western Edge will deliver it.

Western Edge Theatre’s season sponsor is Romper Room Indoor Rock Climbing Centre. Its 2015-16 season is also made possible by financial support from the City of Nanaimo and the Province of British Columbia.