Reviewed by Thomas Mulready
You might think this new holiday-themed play produced by The Cleveland Play House would have a good bit of the real Cleveland in it.
First, it’s based on the novella by Les Roberts, mystery writer extraordinaire, a Cleveland resident who has written 17 mystery books featuring the fictional Cleveland detective Milan Jacovich, and has served as past president of the Private Eye Writers of America and the American Crime Writer’s League. His writing defines the word, “hard-boiled.”
The play was adapted from Roberts’ story by 20-year Cleveland resident and Cleveland Arts Prize winner Eric Coble, who has written dozens of works of theatre; musical revues, romantic comedies, dark comedies, children’s plays and dramatic one-acts. He’s also adapted his fair share of books and plays for the stage and screen. His play, “The Velocity of Autumn” is set to premiere on Broadway in Spring of 2013. View our Cool Cleveland interview with Eric Coble here.
You know this is a Cleveland story from minute one, when narrator “This Guy”, played masterfully by Stephen Spencer announces, from the audience:
“Okay, okay, okay, you want a Christmas story? I’ll give you a Christmas story. One you haven’t heard before. One where you don’t have to go back to London or some Russian Ballet or the North Pole. This story takes place right here. Three blocks that way — Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio.”
And sure enough, on stage is the purest recreation of a Cleveland winter white-out circa 1979 that I have ever seen. And I was there.
It’s also been a while since I’ve weeped openly at a work of art, but it’s not a cliche to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the place by the time the curtain came down.
It’s a rare combination: a Cleveland noir Christmas tear-jerker. But somehow Roberts and Coble and director Laura Kepley and the flawless cast pull it off.
It doesn’t get any more Cleveland than this.
“A Carol for Christmas,” is on stage through 12/23.
http://www.ClevelandPlayHouse.com