BWW Reviews: CNY Playhouse Presents a Stranger Holiday Story with MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE

The holidays are here again, and with them come countless versions of traditional Christmas shows that play every season. So it's heartening that one Central New York theater company wants to step outside of the ordinary and put on a holiday show unlike any other.

The Central New York Playhouse will celebrate the season with Christopher Durang's Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge from December 6-21.

The play, a satire of the Dickens classic and of Christmas stories in general, follows Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas (three-in-one) on their journey, but after mix-up with time travel, they pick up Mrs. Bob Cratchit, a woman who's lost her patience with the poverty her family lives in. Along the way, the group interacts with characters from other holiday staples, including The Gift of the Magi, It's a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story.

Dustin Czarny, the show's producer and CNY Playhouse's artistic director, said that CNY Playhouse and director Greg J. Hipius picked the play for how different in tone it was from most holiday shows.

"We wanted to do something a little bit off the beaten track," Czarny said. "A lot of other theatres probably wouldn't tackle it because it's offbeat and a little dark, but it's perfect for us."

This isn't CNY Playhouse's first irreverent take on a classic story. Just this year, they've also put on productions of Monty Python's Spamalot and Hamlet Cha Cha Cha, a musical version of Shakespeare's classic.

"We don't want to just do traditional shows," Czarny said. "We'll do a few, but we try to push the envelope because we think the audience we've cultivated wants to see something new."

Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge is something relatively new. While it premiered in 2002, it hasn't played in Central New York before, and Czarny said that CNY Playhouse is thrilled to bring it to town.

With them, they'll bring new takes on Mrs. Cratchit and company, with Mrs. Cratchit as a hard-drinking, suicidal woman, and the Ghost is an African-American woman.

It's very much of the mind of Christopher Durang, whose other absurdist versions of classic stories include Titanic and the Tony-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Durang's style is a perfect fit for CNY Playhouse.

"He's a playwright who has such a weird take on reality," Czarny said. "It's an interesting dynamic where it talks to different generations of theatregoers who remember different Christmas shows."

Czarny said that he hopes theatergoers will appreciate a holiday show that twists Dickens's original meaning.

"That dark humor, it gives it a little more texture," Czarny said. "We just hope we can do justice to the work."

Where: 3649 Erie Blvd E, Suite #B201, Syracuse, NY 13214

When: December 6-21, Thursdays & Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m., Saturdays 6:30 p.m. dinner and 8:00 p.m. show

Cost: $20, $15 on Sundays, $34.95 for dinner/show

Artwork from CNYPlayhouse.com

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