What could be more stressful than Christmas dinner? American playwright Steve Franco and the Blackwood Players answer this question with the farce ‘In-Laws, Outlaws, and Other People (That Should Be Shot)’. The hilarity starts as bickering father and daughter Tom and Beth (Jarrod Chave and Annie Gladdis) prepare dinner on Christmas Eve. They are soon joined by a series of relatives; boastful Aunt Bunny and Uncle Bud (Rebecca Gardner and Paul Hutchinson), with their high achieving daughter Tracey in tow (Genevieve Everett), the disagreeable Uncle Leo (Martin Barbary), and the ever-rambling Aunt Rose (Kathy Strauts). Grumbling neighbour Mrs Draper (Lorelle Pfeiffer), Beth’s wannabe boyfriend Paul (Caiden Crafts), two robbers who take the family hostage (Adam Schultz and James Barbary), and a snowstorm all add to the chaos.

 

Although clarity of the dialogue was occasionally an issue, there were entertaining performances all round from the ensemble cast, particularly from Schultz and Barbary as the comical robbers and Strauts as the aunt who just wouldn’t shut up! The set (by Erik Stauts, also director) and lighting (by Tim Gladdis and Erik Stauts) were simple, but very effective. The overcrowded Christmas decorations by Brittany Daw were perhaps a bit too much, but isn’t that what Christmas decorations are all about?

 

If you need a show to get you in the Christmas mood this year, this sparkling comedy is on until November 18. Why not bring all those in-laws, outlaws and those who… well aren’t they all one and the same?