Anthony Neilson's THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS Comes to Southwark Playhouse

Have you heard the one about the coked-up Christmas Scrooge, his grumpy best mate, a prostitute and an unruly Elf?

This isn't a weirdly dark Christmas cracker joke: it's Anthony Neilson's anarchic, anti-festive black comedy The Night Before Christmas, revived for the first time by director Alex Sutton with an all-star cast currently taking Southwark Playhouse by storm.

It's Christmas Eve. Gary's not feeling the Christmas spirit. He's promised his son some Power Ranger figures, but he hasn't quite found the time to deliver them, and now his ex-wife is on the attack...And that's not even the worst of it. Some tiny idiot has broken into his warehouse, and Gary is pretty sure this isn't just a festive coincidence; but with no-one else but his grouchy pal Simon to help him decide what to do, could Christmas be cancelled forever?

This hilarious and razor-edged comedy about finding the true spirit of Christmas is more than just a merry romp; it's an un-merry extravaganza jam-packed with drugs, debauchery and dirty jokes, all rolled in glitter. A brilliantly dark mash up of South Park and Miracle on 34th Street by way of Scrooged, Gary's story unfolds as he grapples with a big (or actually quite little) secret that may well save him and, more importantly, Christmas itself.

The best anti-festive outing you can get, The Night Before Christmas is equal parts screwed up and joyous - as the cast stick two fingers up at Sleigh Bells and stockings, recognising that Christmas can actually be a bit rubbish sometimes and that it may have lost its true meaning along the way....

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