You ever get a Christmas letter? You know, one of those notes inserted into a Christmas card tell you way more than you ever wanted to know about the senders? Karen Brookshire loves writing them. Not so her family - they'd much rather dive behind the couch. "Nobody ever reads those things," her son, Thad, tells her. In fact, the whole family ducks this annual rite. So Karen has to write their Christmas letter by herself. She remembers what happened to the Brookshire family over the year, such as Cathy's first date which unfortunately falls at the same time as Karen's sisters, Dodo and Gretchen, are visiting. "Isn't she all grown up!" they tease the mortified Cathy. And Thad's graduation where he not only wins awards (well, a pin for perfect attendance) but also finds out that he will still be living at home. "What? What did she say?!" he blurts out. Writing the letter Karen not only the previous year but her imagination runs a bit wild. For instance, she pictures the rest of her family pulling a 'Mission Impossible' to get rid of the letter. Or Marlon doing a nightclub stand-up routine about his sisters-in-law. "Or as I like to call them, Godzilla and the Terminator!" With a boy-crazy daughter, a smarty-pants son and a klutzy husband (I'm going to fix that doorbell if it's the last thing I do!) she has her hands full. Full of Christmas humor and poignant memories this theatrical greeting card brings home the true meaning of family, of tradition and, of course, of Christmas itself.
Published by Eldridge Plays and Musicals, the show calls for a cast of 4 men, 4 women and 2 girls (fewer with double casting).
