This is a hey-day of hilarity. A hootenanny that melds madcap with slapstick and tosses in a collection of just goofy stunts that will make your face hurt from laughing.
It’s the comedy “The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townwomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ ” This is the season finale for Edge of the World Theatre and a truly fine send-off done by the theater’s crack-up comedy team. The show runs through the holiday season, ending Jan. 5.
The whole schtick of this show is a play within a play. Oftentimes, the difficulty of doing a play within a play is for the cast to master the delicate nuances of the characters. Well, throw all that out the window because there’s nothing delicate here: They are a scatterbrained crew no matter what role they play and wouldn’t know nuance if they tripped on it, which they do a lot, and that, of course, is why it’s so funny.
The women of the Dramatic Society of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townwomen’s Guild have decided to put on “A Christmas Carol.” Furthermore, they’ve decided to play all the leading male roles themselves, leaving the minor female roles to their stunned stage manager, Gordon. The ladies also feel the old story is a bit stuffy (this is an English production so everyone has an accent) so they spice it up with some new characters and three musical numbers, though ‘musical’ is a generous term.
There’s also a singalong with the audience, a dramatic puppet scene and off-stage interruptions of police calls and a randy talk-show exchange.
If you’re having a hard time keeping up, then you’ve got the idea: “A Christmas Carol” like you’ve never seen before, including a very clever selection of cut-outs.
The show is a perfect venue for Edge veteran Melanie Calderwood, who plays Mrs. Reece, the matriarch of these wacky drama queens and the mistress of ceremonies for the evening. Calderwood is hysterical from beginning to end, at first delighting the audience with a one-woman comedy routine while searching for a replacement for Scrooge and wrapping up the show with a game of charades. Toward the end, the story seems to want to ramble, even drag somewhat, but Calderwood helps to bring it all back together.
Sara Trowbridge plays Thelma, the society’s drama diva who is assigned the job of playing Scrooge. Trowbridge is wonderful in both roles with a face that can screw up into a snobbish glare and a stingy scowl. Kayti Barnett captured the part of flighty Felicity and earned a well-deserved round of applause when she appeared as the “top half” of the Ghost of Christmas Present. Aaron Odom played the spoiler of the show, Gordon, a man who at the same time made you want to belly laugh and smack him upside the head. Newcomer BriAnne Green gave a solid debut performance as the ever-suffering Mercedes, who was recovering from a horrible shopping cart accident and wore a neck brace and spent some splendid comedic sessions prone on the stage.
Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com
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