Fri 12/5-Sat 12/21
Just when you thought there weren’t many new ways to spin that hoary old holiday saw. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Cleveland Public Theatre found one.
Playwright Maya Malan-Gonzalez is a member of Milagro Theatre in Portland, Oregon, which commissioned A Xmas Cuento Remix, “not your abuelo’s Christmas story,” which is having a “ rolling world premiere” at Milagro, 16th Street Theater near Chicago, and CPT.
In this version, all of the characters —“Scrooge,” “Bob Cratchit” and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future are all Latina women. The basic storyline is the same: Anita loses her job on New Year’s Eve and must appeal to the Scrooge-like Dolores to save the family home. But the characters’ identities bring a whole different spin — and a lot of humor and music — to the old story. The “ghosts” are portrayed as deities and icons Mayan, Chicana and Mexican cultures, offering a unique take on the messages these spirits are bringing. The bilingual production shouldn’t be hard to follow no matter what languages you speak since the plot is so familiar.
A Xmas Cuento Remix runs Thursdays-Saturdays @ 7pm and Sundays @ 3pm in the James Levin Theatre. Tickets are $15 for the previews, Thursdays and Sundays and $35 Fridays and Saturdays, and the Saturday 12/21 3pm matinee. Matinee tickets for youth under 18 are $10.
Cleveland, OH 44102