Christmas Dinner Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh 8th December 2021 Review
Christmas Dinner is at the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh from 6 December to 2 January and this light hearted joining of forces between The Lyceum and Catherine Wheels Theatre Company has an odd charm and a bit of surreal eccentricity to it that somehow works on stage.
One of the many casualties of the past 18 months or so for theatres and audiences alike was the sight of venues across the country with closed doors, lights out, empty stage and no audiences, and somehow this seemed particularly poignant at Christmas time when special family orientated productions are usually a big part of the festive period for many people (on and off stage). Taking this theme of a living, breathing, but very sad theatre being visited by old spirits of Christmas past, someone living now in the present, and hoping to find the right story to bring it back into life is an interesting twist on a familiar tale and maybe just that breath of life and hope that is needed this year. Of course we all know how the story is going to end, but sometimes it is not the destination that matters but how you get there. Christmas Dinner was written by Robert Alan Evans and directed by Gill Robertson, with a cast as follows.
Fruity: Richard Conlon
Lesley: Elicia Daly
Shy Boy: Ronan McMahon
Madame Lady: Florence Odumosu
Bird Girl: Sita Pieraccini
Christine: Janie Thomson
Dave: Hamish Wyllie
There is an almost child-like innocence to the theatre spirits - Fruity, Shy Boy, Madame Lady and Bird Girl - that has a certain charm which interweaves at times with tinges of old vaudeville/music hall performances that I don’t think would work anywhere else but somewhere like The Lyceum, a classic late Victorian period theatre. The innocent optimism of our theatre spirit is always conflicting with the harsh reality of a jaded living heart here and Elicia Daly gets the tone of theatre worker Lesley just right, and many of us in the audience probably knew exactly how she was feeling in the run up to Christmas and the thought of another “Christmas Dinner”, particularly when our theatrical spirits dress up as food from the Christmas Dinner table.
Christmas Dinner is not a theatrical masterpiece, and to be fair it was never intended to be. This show is exactly what it claims to be, a family Christmas show that breathes life back into the Lyceum Theatre at a time of the year when many people just need to simply be entertained for a while and forget any problems that they might have in the big world outside of the theatre walls, a show with a live on-stage performance, for sharing with friends and family, a unique experience that only theatre can provide even in a world with on-demand entertainment everywhere around us.
Review by Tom King (c) 2021
ARTS REVIEWS EDINBURGH
One of the many casualties of the past 18 months or so for theatres and audiences alike was the sight of venues across the country with closed doors, lights out, empty stage and no audiences, and somehow this seemed particularly poignant at Christmas time when special family orientated productions are usually a big part of the festive period for many people (on and off stage). Taking this theme of a living, breathing, but very sad theatre being visited by old spirits of Christmas past, someone living now in the present, and hoping to find the right story to bring it back into life is an interesting twist on a familiar tale and maybe just that breath of life and hope that is needed this year. Of course we all know how the story is going to end, but sometimes it is not the destination that matters but how you get there. Christmas Dinner was written by Robert Alan Evans and directed by Gill Robertson, with a cast as follows.
Fruity: Richard Conlon
Lesley: Elicia Daly
Shy Boy: Ronan McMahon
Madame Lady: Florence Odumosu
Bird Girl: Sita Pieraccini
Christine: Janie Thomson
Dave: Hamish Wyllie
There is an almost child-like innocence to the theatre spirits - Fruity, Shy Boy, Madame Lady and Bird Girl - that has a certain charm which interweaves at times with tinges of old vaudeville/music hall performances that I don’t think would work anywhere else but somewhere like The Lyceum, a classic late Victorian period theatre. The innocent optimism of our theatre spirit is always conflicting with the harsh reality of a jaded living heart here and Elicia Daly gets the tone of theatre worker Lesley just right, and many of us in the audience probably knew exactly how she was feeling in the run up to Christmas and the thought of another “Christmas Dinner”, particularly when our theatrical spirits dress up as food from the Christmas Dinner table.
Christmas Dinner is not a theatrical masterpiece, and to be fair it was never intended to be. This show is exactly what it claims to be, a family Christmas show that breathes life back into the Lyceum Theatre at a time of the year when many people just need to simply be entertained for a while and forget any problems that they might have in the big world outside of the theatre walls, a show with a live on-stage performance, for sharing with friends and family, a unique experience that only theatre can provide even in a world with on-demand entertainment everywhere around us.
Review by Tom King (c) 2021
ARTS REVIEWS EDINBURGH