Latitude Theatre, a Seattle-based theatre company dedicated to world theatre, announces a Christmas-themed short play festival of wild holiday greeting cards from 1800s Britain turned into original works for the stage. Victorian Christmas Cards will be presented at Theatre Puget Sound’s Theatre 4 in the Seattle Center Armory for two weekends only – December 8 – December 17, 2023. Shows are scheduled for Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
After a successful inaugural production (Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment) in May, Latitude Theatre is excited to bring local artists together to create brand-new plays for this brand-new winter short-play festival.
Soldiers, puppets, comedy, fantasy and frogs! All this and more can be seen as six quirky Christmas cards are brought to life on stage. Six fabulous local playwrights were each given the artwork of a vintage Holiday card to translate and transform. Then, the plays were put in the hands of six amazing local directors to shape for the stage.
Each playwright was asked to translate the card to the stage, but the inspiration didn’t always take them down the obvious path. Playwright Buffy Sedlachek observed, “This is wicked fun. My Victorian Christmas Card refers to innocent mirth, while the image puts someone in serious jeopardy. The tension between the illustration and the text created an irresistible opportunity for the play.” The resulting piece is a quirky comedy full of mirth and merriment.
However, not all the plays are comedies – some are fantastical, some are touching, and all are full of Holiday spirit. The play “Blessings in Disguise” by Shanna Allmann is a little of all three. “I explored several wildly different stories before settling on my initial impulse, which was inspired by the great sense of longing and loss I felt when I looked at the card,” shared Allmann. “This was my first time writing a play based on a visual prompt, and I found the process both challenging and fascinating.” Challenging and fascinating are terms which encompass the festival as a whole. There are pieces with a Victorian flavor, contemporary pieces, and those that could exist in any time. Just like the cards they are translating to the stage, many of the plays include animal characters and others have a Victorian flare. It’s all part of the festive fun!
Victorian Christmas Cards features new plays by Shanna Allman, Henry S Brown, Jr., Jay Cross, Kate Danley, Buffy Sedlachek, and Scott Zenreich. Directed by Rowan Gallagher, Christopher Kidder-Mostrom, Hannah Lund, Jane Ryan, Catherine Blake Smith, and Kirsten Traylor-Thorson. Choreography by Jacq Babb. The cast includes Jana Blumberg, Ashutosh Borkar, David Elwyn, Skye Farrell, Sumant Gupta, Stav Hinenzon, Katherine Oberg, Monty Rozema, Chelsey Sheppard, Jocelyn Thomson and Eugene Zabokritski. Ali Kidder-Mostrom serves as “Postmaster” for the festival.
Opening night is December 8th at 7:30pm. The remaining performances are December 13th, 14th, 15th at 7:30pm and December 9th, 16th, 17th at 2:00pm. Regular ticket prices are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Discount tickets are available for TPS members, Theatrical union members and TeenTix subscribers. Tickets for all performances are now on sale.
There is one special preview performance: Wednesday, December 7th at 7:30 pm – Pay-With-Your-Can Preview – A food drive to benefit our local food bank (Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church Food Bank). Donate non-perishable food items for discounts and/or free tickets! Bring in 1 canned good for a $5 discount, bring 3 canned goods and get into the show for FREE! Discounted tickets are first-come-first-served, at the door only. Tickets purchased in advance for December 7th are regular price ($25).
As part of the festival, Latitude Theatre is publishing a script of all six plays. Anyone who wants to help bring these plays to life (even those not in Seattle) can contribute to the festival through the company’s fundraiser and take home a copy of the script or a set of the Christmas cards featured in the festival.
Latitude Theatre is a non-profit theatre company located in Seattle, Washington, founded by Artistic Director Christopher Kidder-Mostrom. Latitude Theatre is dedicated to producing theatre from around our world, and from parallel worlds that expose PNW audiences to different perspectives.
