This year’s annual Christmas celebration at the James’ home has a macabre twist. Along with the traditional passive-aggressive silences and sniping, Dad has surprising news: he’s been dilly-dallying with the next door neighbor. Now, throw in the accidental murder of a loathed uncle -- with the neighborly sweetheart’s “slow” son as the culprit -- and you have a Christmas Eve decorated with dysfunction, distrust, and disaster; but damn funny.
Director Charley Carroll admits to using his own Southern family’s dreadful way of communicating to shape the slapstick performances of an array of zany characters. “Sadly, it wasn’t hard to envision my own relatives pretending to be charming and lovable, and then descending into browbeating and sarcasm,” Carroll says. “Yet, what a treasure trove for comedy!”
Carroll’s assistant director for the show is Duke Harbison. “It’s Christmas, Goddamnit,” was created by an ensemble that includes Bridget Ballek, Mantas Dumcius, Annie Donley, Emily Fitzpatrick, Paul Jurewicz, Jeff Murdoch, Jimmy Pennington, Kellen Terrett, Lee Russell, and Jo Scott. This same goofy group has performed in the Annoyance’s “Splatter Theater” and will be seen in a remount of their well received “The Tragedy of Balloon Boy” scheduled for January, 2012.
"It’s Christmas, Goddamnit,” plays Saturdays, 10 p.m., December 1-29, 2012. Tickets are $20. For more information, view the Annoyance website,www.
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