Budding Theatre’s upcoming farce, ‘A Christmas Carol Goes Horribly, Terribly Wrong,’ is a community theatre production which basically (excuse my French) takes the piss.
The play at Belconnen Theatre, features a large cast of Canberra actors playing Canberra actors playing characters from A Christmas Carol, as well as a backstage team, technical operator, directors, producer, stage mum, theatre judges and a theatre reviewer.
It sounds more mind boggling than Inception, yet it’s actually quite simply raw, disastrously funny humour.
Playwright Kirsty Budding says “Actors and backstage crew miss cues or enter too early, and set pieces and props end up in the wrong place or not on stage at all, forcing performers to improvise (which most are not very good at).
The technical operator (Michael Ubrihien) plays the wrong sound files; for example, when a bell is supposed to toll to announce a ghost, the audience hears a Nokia ringtone.”
Prepare yourself for ultimate awkwardness between the young couple (Rob Shiells and Matilda Saddington) who have developed a romance yet forced to play brother and sister on stage.
The Carol Singers are played by divas who decide to swap traditional carols for inappropriate musical theatre and pop routines – kind of like the talent show on the Mean Girls movie.
Expect pretentious directors, overacting actors, actors who want to re-write the lines, overworked and moody backstage crew, stage managers who hate stage managing, a complaining stage mum, flirtatious theatre judges, a brutal theatre reviewer, and a stressed and drunk theatre producer.
The show contains strong language – suitable for teenagers and adults. Four Shows: Wed 11 Dec 8pm, Friday 13 Dec 8pm, Sat 14 Dec 11am, Sunday 15 Dec 8pm
Tickets: Adult $45 ($35 Earlybird until Nov 30) Conc $30 ($25 Earlybird until Nov 30) Booking online
