Well, it's not your typical Christmas play. Thirty Christmases begins with a member of the audience being asked to peel a saucepan full of potatoes. It quickly becomes apparent we are gathered for a Christmas with a difference. In fact a lot of Christmases with a difference as we are taken through three decades of a dysfunctional but loving family.
The play is written by Jonny Donahoe (of political musical comedians Jonny & The Baptists) and stars Donahoe and fellow comic Rachel Parris as siblings Jonny and Rachel, who have been brought up by their single dad, an old school lefty who rejected the normal trappings of society. The trio didn't even seem to have a house, dad seemed to befriend people and then move in with them before moving on.
As the story pans out we hear about ongoing familial tensions. We also meet Paddy (played by fellow Baptist Paddy Gervers), another non-conformist struggling to find his own way through life. The tone ranges from the touching as we hear about sad times, to the comic, as we see them mixing (and drinking) the most powerfully alcoholic punch ever created.
Along the way we get plenty of original music, from a send-up of sexy Santa pop songs to a satire of Feed The World-style charity records. This is the sort of thing Jonny & The Baptists do so well in their own gigs so it is no surprise that the songs are the highlights of the show. They also drive the narrative. One number sets up an underlying message of the evening: "Don’t Be a Prick at Christmas".
The dialogue, on the other hand, drags a little at times. Given that it is called Thirty Christmases I was worried and anxious when 50 minutes in we had only revisited about four Christmases. It looked like being a long night. But then the plot shifts and we quickly reach a dramatic moment when Jonny has a dilemma and has to make a life-changing highly principled decision, one which has huge ramifications for Rachel.
It is a decision that pulls Jonny and Rachel apart. Can they be reconciled before the end of the show? Well, that would be telling. We do love a happy It's Wonderful Life-type ending at Christmas but maybe that can't always happen. Thirty Christmases is flawed, but then aren't we all? It certainly puts a different spin on festive theatre.
Until December 23. Tickets and info here.
