Christmas rapping

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As you can tell from my theatre calendar, this is the week when some local groups are opening their Christmas presents for you. What are critics saying about them? Read on.

The closest thing to a traditional Christmas show right now is surely Black Nativity at The Black Rep. A free adaptation of and expansion upon the Langston Hughes classic of the same name, Black Nativity is really two shows in one, as Steve Callahan notes in his review for 88.1 KDHX. "The first half," he writes, "is almost an oratorio on the birth of Jesus. The stage is constantly full of bright movement and dance as we see Mary and Joseph on their familiar journey...The songs are a vivid patchwork of styles—from Handel's 'Joy to the World' to vibrant African folk-songs to a wonderful Reggae version of the 'Late-Night Shepherd's Blues' in which a shepherd bemoans that his woman done left him...The second half of the evening is probably the best Christmas cabaret you'll ever see."

Post-Dispatch critic Judy Newmark mostly agrees. "If your family enjoys entertainment at this time of the year," she writes, "consider the Black Rep for a show at once traditional and fresh." Black Nativity runs through December 22nd at the Black Rep's new home at the intimate (230 seat) Emerson Performance Center on the campus of Harris-Stowe State University. For more information: theblackrep.org.

Over at Clayton Community Theatre they're observing the holidays not with a big celebration but rather with Room at the Inn, a drama by local playwright Steve Pokin that gets back to the real roots of the season, when the winter solstice was a time to celebrate fellowship and push back the darkness—both literal and metaphorical. "It's Christmas Eve," reads the synopsis from First Run Theatre's premiere of the show back in 2008, "and a deadly winter storm has slammed the Chicago area. Roads are closed and the wind chill is on the far side of zero. Only Jake, the volunteer site manager, and one other church volunteer are able to make it to the homeless shelter. Nevertheless, the bus carrying the 40 homeless 'guests' arrives. There is no dinner, the person supposed to deliver it is probably in a ditch off an icy road. Room at the Inn is about the struggle to make it through this one night, despite assorted challenges and the threat of violence."

"The writer shows a solid ability to present these homeless characters as mostly dignified people who have ended up on the wrong side of fortune," wrote Mark Bretz in a Ladue News review of that first production. "The play is admirable," wrote Dennis Brown in the Riverfront Times back then, "both in its intent and the way it skirts polemics." Performances are this Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2 PM at the Washington University South Campus Theatre. For more information, call 314-721-9228 or visit placeseveryone.org.

Photo: John Lamb

At pretty much the other end of the spectrum is Stray Dog Theatre's The Butterfingers Angel, Mary and Joseph, Herod The Nut And The Slaughter Of 12 Hit Carols In A Pear Tree, which runs through the 21st. The company's web site describes the show as a "touching, funny, and highly imaginative retelling of the Christmas story complete with talking animals, a feminist-leaning Mary, a jealous Joseph, a fast-talking sheep, and one loud-mouthed overbearing tree. Created by one of America's major dramatists, this Christmas cartoon mixed with psychological realism brings new relevance to its timeless subject."

That "major dramatist" is William Gibson, best known for The Miracle Worker, the oft-seen play about the young Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Written in 1975, Butterfingers Angel has gotten good notices is earlier productions, including a one in Washington, D.C. in 2008 that moved Washington Post critic Nelson Pressley to praise the non-comic aspects of the script. "The dramatic passages," he wrote, "are actually quite good, right down to an unexpected image of sacrifice near the climax. Slipperier by far are Gibson's lightness and gentle humanity -- the butterfingers bits."

The Stray Dog production has gotten its share of praise as well. Over at Vital Voice, for example, Andrea Braun calls it "a lovely holiday gift from one of St. Louis's consistently finest and most popular theatre companies" "If you're looking to take tradition in a somewhat non-traditional direction this holiday season," writes Laura Kyro at 88.1 KDHX, "try Stray Dog's 'The Butterfingers Angel'." Performances take place at Tower Grove Abbey, a church which is now Stray Dog's Home. The stained glass should provide a nice visual backdrop for this left-of-center look at Christmas legends. For more information: straydogtheatre.org.

On an even less traditional note, the two major murder mystery dinner theatre companies in town are observing the holidays in their own way. The Bissell Mansion on the near north side presents A Christmas Killing through the 31st while down on the south side the Lemp Mansion hosts its annual Christmas Show through the end of the year. For more information on the former, check out bissellmansiontheatre.com; for the latter, it's lempmansion.com.