Hotel Bethlehem is a real Christmas treat!
The anticipation of seeing my very first Ruby Slippers Theatre production was only fuelled more when I saw the set. Consisting of an elaborate network of doors and levels - already I could feel the exceptional production values of this production. With almost a full house surrounding me, I had a very good feeling about what I was about to see. I first thought this was going to be a serious play, but to my delight Drew McCreadie delivers a wiz bang of farcical humour, a sprinkle of slapstick and a healthy dollop of laugh out loud humour!
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...
However, this is Bethlehem and this evening in the Year 0 will be anything but quiet! Get ready to be taken backstage and into the world of what else might have been happening the night a great king was born. John Murphy plays a very Basil Faulty-esque innkeeper and will drag you kicking and laughing through this Comedy of Errors. Murphy is excellently supported by a trio of Wise Men who have fallen straight out of the Three Stooges, a visiting Roman census collector and a pair of Roman soldiers who would not be out of place at the table of Monty Python. Not forgetting a rather unvirginal Mary to wrap this all together.
From the opening scene with the two goat herders, no two shepherds, no two goat herders, well actually two men who herd the goats in a shepherding fashion, right until the last scene there is not a slow or dull moment. High octane, high impact and simply delightful from top to toe!
CATCH IT NOW IT WILL SELL OUT!
Leah's Recipe for Hotel Bethlehem Christmas Crackers:
- Take 11 excellent actors add flawless scripting with whip cracking direction
- In a separate bowl mix Faulty Towers with Monty Python's Life of Brian and bit of The Meaning of Life then add a smattering of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors
- Add the Ruby Slippers magic secret ingredient
BANG!!
Hotel Bethlehem!
Upcoming Performances:
December 7 - 10 at Studio 16, 1545 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver (Tickets: $15/22 at 604-629-8849 or www.vancouvertix.com)
December 14 - 17 @ 8PM, Dec 17 & 18 @2PM at The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Avenue (Tickets: $15/27/32 at 604 205-3000 or www.shadboltcentre.com)