THE THEATER MIRROR, New England’s LIVE Theater Guide
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MARQUEE | USHER | SEATS |
INTERMISSION | CURTAIN |
note: entire contents copyright 2009 by Carl A. Rossi
Dylan Thomas … Stephen Libby
Mother … Margaret Ann Brady
Auntie Bessie … Mary Callanan
Young Dylan Thomas … Adam Freeman
Father; Fireman … Steven Gagliastro
Auntie Hannah; Mrs. Prothero … Anne Gardiner
Jack Briggs … Coleman Hirschberg
Uncle Jim; Tom Thompkins; Fireman … Allan Mayo
Uncle Norman; Mr. Prothero; Fireman … Robert D. Murphy
Nancy Thomas … Linnea Schulz
From the press release:
“Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and Boston Children’s Theatre present a new adaptation of the Dylan Thomas story A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES. Playwright and director Burgess Clark has transformed this classic story into what will hopefully become an annual Boston holiday tradition --- complete with presents, odd relatives and freshly fallen snow.”
Well, I, for one, wish this particular CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES the longest of legs for it is the richest, most textured piece of fruitcake that I’ve sampled since Stoneham Theatre’s CHRISTMAS CAROL, six years ago (though that wonderful production was really made of storybook and gingerbread). I was prepared for an evening of Readers’ Theatre and, yes, an actor impersonating the late Mr. Thomas serves as narrator and guide to his cozy, quarrelsome family but Mr. Burgess has fleshed out such slender fare into an actual two-act play with living-breathing portraits and true-sounding dialogue ranging from the tender to the bawdy, and he has kept Mr. Thomas’ verbal flights to a blessed minimum: here are the parents, the sister, the assorted aunts and uncles witnessed by a boy and immortalized by a man; mythic figures on a finely-detailed scale with just enough mortal observations to press home the fact that this family circle cannot stay intact, forever. The same charge could be laid at the BPT/BCT production, itself --- will next year’s production be as good as this spanking new one, and the one after that, and the one after that? Why risk future disappointment when you can see this CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES, now, in sheer perfection?
Thank you, Mr. Burgess for doing double-duty so well, and thank you, Anthony Phelps and Rachel Padula Shufelt for the set and costumes, and thank you, Stephen, Margaret, Mary, Adam, Steven, Anne, Meagan, Coleman, Allan, Robert and Linnea for making me a part of your 90-minute family; indeed, at intermission, the well-attended audience seemed as eager for Act Two as I was. It isn’t often when I feel in sync with those about me, but this was one of those times --- you see, my Christmas theatre-present arrived early, this year.