'Mrs. Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge' at SF Playhouse thru Jan.12

SF Playhouse presents Christopher Durang's Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge, directed by Joy Carlin now through January 12, 2008.

"This zany Christopher Durang play turns Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol on its ear, systematically and hilariously deconstructing the turgid holiday rituals that stand in the way of true connections!" explain press notes, "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge is a playful, cracked look at the perennial Dickens Christmas classic about mean Ebenezer Scrooge and his discovering the true meaning of Christmas through the visitation of Three Ghosts.  In Durang's giddy version, the Ghost's magic is off, consistently transporting Scrooge and the Ghost to the wrong time and place. Mrs. Bob Cratchit - no longer loving and long suffering, is in a rage: She's sick of Tiny Tim (the goody-goody crippled child), she hates her twenty other children (most of them confined to the root cellar), including oversized Little Nell, and she wants to get drunk and jump off London Bridge. As the Ghost loses more control, the plot morphs into parodies of Oliver Twist, 'The Gift of the Magi' and It's a Wonderful Life. And to make matters worse, Scrooge and Mrs. Bob seem to be kindred souls falling in love. With a dénouement that is two parts 'Touched by an Angel' and one part 'The Queen of Mean,' Scrooge's tale of redemption and gentle grace is placed squarely on its head."

Joan Mankin stars as Mrs. Bob Cratchit with Victor Talmadge and Howard Swain as Scrooge. The ensemble includes, Keith Burkland, Lizzie Calogero, Olivia Scott Dahrouge, Jean Forsman, Arthur Keng, Henry Kinder, Gideon Lazarus, Madeleine Pauker, Cathleen Riddley, Brian Degan Scott, Megan Smith, Terry Rucker.  Howard Swain will replace Victor Talmadge as Scrooge beginning December 18.

Performances are now through January 12, 2008.  Show times are Wednesday – Saturday at 8PM; plus Saturday matinees at 3PM.

The SF Playhouse is located at 533 Sutter Street (one block off Union Square, b/n Powell & Mason) San Francisco, CA

For tickets ($38) or more information, contact the SF Playhouse box office at 415-677-9596, visit www.TicketWeb.com, or TIX bay area.

Photo by Zabrina Tipton: Joan Mankin, Victor Talmadge and Lizzie Calogero