Uwishunu.com

There’s a reason Azuka Theater’s The Long Christmas Ride Home isn’t playing closer to Christmas. It’s not your typical feel-good holiday production. It’s something far more meaningful that that.

The story centers on a family and their drive to grandma’s house one Christmas Eve. It begins with all of the family road trip cliches – fights over the radio station, three bickering kids in the backseat, and hushed arguments between the parents upfront. It quickly spreads out to other holiday traditions. The family attends a “Christmas” service at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rock Springs, a compromise for the family’s Catholic mother (Amanda Grove) and Jewish father (Seth Reichgott).

After a particularly horrific holiday visit with the grandparents, the production shifts gears and shows glimpses of the children’s future lives as adults. This transition is well done. Three actors, and several other puppeteers, control the puppets portraying the kids. These actors then take on the roles of the children at some of the lowest points in their respective adulthoods. All three reveal elements of each others’ futures and demonstrate how the few parts of their childhood we see have affected their adult lives.

Azuka teamed up with the Mandell Professionals in Residence Project (MPiRP) for this production, bringing together professional theater in Philadelphia and Drexel acting and dance students. That collaboration worked especially well in this production. As the play progresses, the young actors who depict the grown kids take command of the show, driving the character development and ultimate tragedy of the play.

Much of The Long Christmas Ride Home feels a lot like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with a far less redeeming and feel-good ending. It makes for a more genuine portrayal of family holidays. Every Christmas is not magical. In fact, some are downright heartbreaking. And for any real family, the holiday season is a combination of those good and bad memories. It’s that more realistic take on family celebrations that Cromie and company aim to depict. And while it may not be the most uplifting story, it’s one that will resonate with audiences for far longer than any production of The Nutcracker or the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

The Long Christmas Ride Home
Now through November 15th, 2009

Mandell Theater
33rd & Chestnut streets, Philadelphia, 19104
(215) 733-0255
www.azukatheatre.org