Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: San Francisco

The Christmas Revels: A Theatrical Celebration of the Winter Solstice
Scottish Rite Theater

Also see Richard's reviews of Peter and the Starcatcher, The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged), Kinky Boots


The Cast
It would be easy to find fault with The Christmas Revels: A Theatrical Celebration of the Winter Solstice, now playing at the Scottish Rite Theater in Oakland. If you like your theatre dark and edgy, dripping with hidden meaning and swimming in subtext, curl up next to the fire and watch a DVD of something directed by Robert Wilson, or go on a Pinter binge, because this will not be the show for you. Likewise, if you're not a "joiner," if you refrain from clapping along in rhythm when the rest of the audience is, and refuse to join in a chorus when a performer on stage says, "Everybody sing!" run away. Run far, far away.

But if you enjoy theatre as a communal act, love a sing-along, and are the sort of person who climbs on stage at the end of Hair to dance with the cast, get yourself to this lovely theater on the shores of Lake Merritt and take part in a Bay Area holiday tradition that is in its 29th year.

If you are unfamiliar with the Revels (as it is almost always referred to), it is a collection of traditional songs and dances, linked by a simple story and theme—all of which change from year to year. (Several songs, however, are always included, such as "Dona Nobis Pacem.") The players are generally local performers and community members.

This year's version of the Revels is entitled Crossroads: An American Journey. In past iterations, the show has been set in medieval Europe, 19th century Quebec, 16th century Italy, and a variety of other times and places. In 2014, the producers have set the Revels in the American south of 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. Accordingly, many of the songs are familiar folk favorites: "Wabash Cannonball," "Big Rock Candy Mountain," and "This Land is Your Land"—not terribly Christmasy, but the presence of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" makes up for it a bit.

The show is about as un-hip as one could imagine. (Two words: Morris dancers.) But the Revels isn't about being hip. It's about being welcomed. It's about being part of a community. A huge community: humanity. It's about how we come together to celebrate the death of an old year on its shortest day and herald the new year and the ever-increasing light that comes with it.

Artistic Director David Parr deserves credit for wrangling a huge cast (I didn't count, but there seemed to be close to 50 people on stage at times) and for hiring costume designer Callie Floor, who has outfitted every member of the cast in a manner that is perfectly in line with the time period, yet also colorful and theatrical. Kudos also to Euphonia, the house band for this show, and especially to their lead singer Sylvia Herold, whose strong, bell-like country voice was a perfect complement to the action on stage.

Sure, you can giggle at the Morris dancers, or mock the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, in which men holding antlers to the foreheads clatter in a sort of slow-motion mock battle while a single recorder plays a simple, haunting tune. But as I said, if you're looking for hip, you're looking in the wrong place. And while the story (an amnesiac wanderer meets a Mystery Man who sends him in all four directions to help him find his way in the world) is a little clunky and poorly written, the performers are sincere, the choral singing strong and harmonic.

If you've had your fill of The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol (or even The Santaland Diaries) and are looking for a different (and more participatory) holiday celebration, give The Christmas Revels a shot. And don't worry about singing along—as one of the performers said in leading the audience in a round, "There are no wrong notes in large group singing."

The Christmas Revels: A Theatrical Celebration of the Winter Solstice plays December 19 at 8pm, and December 20 and 21 at 1pm and 5pm at the Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets range from $20-$60 for adults, or $10-$45 for students, patrons under 25 and groups of 10 or more. More information is available at www.californiarevels.org.


Cheers - and be sure to Check the lineup of great shows this season in the San Francisco area

- Patrick Thomas