Theatre 33 presents The Christmas Gift

Experience the new play, The Christmas Gift, live on stage Dec 10-12 and 15-17

Theatre 33 is a guaranteed source of holiday drama. 

The Salem-based new play development company releases an original, homegrown, holiday show annually. This year, that play is The Christmas Gift, written by Theatre 33’s Executive Director Thomas Nabhan. 

“My idea was to write a comedic holiday satire of Waiting for Godot. The first scene in The Christmas Gift is a result of that,” Thomas said. “Then ideas just dried up, or went nowhere. I re-pondered on the reason for writing, and it struck me: something has been bothering me for a long time — how our society corrupts the true essence of Christmas, and how instead of being a magical time of year, it is the opposite for so many people, which is another canary in our cultural coal mine.”

Thomas expanded on this idea.

“…I kept the concept of an empty space with a homeless man seemingly in residence, inserted a supernatural component, and created characters who represent those corrupting forces in our culture. The flaws in these characters are confronted and redeemed on some level, and the true essence of Christmas is also reclaimed. Several twists in the plot are revealed at the end.”

Photo: Allison Saucy as Ann

Thomas’s play, which he began writing two years ago, has received treatment similar to the plays included in Theatre 33’s summer season: a reading with an audience and support from a dramaturg, who for Thomas, was Washington-based playwright Nora Douglass. This involvement helps the playwright identify strengths and challenges in order to revise and improve the work.

One such challenge with The Christmas Gift was finding balance in the story. 

“…this script has a wide array of comic and dramatic genres. The humor is slapstick and subtle, with broad, obvious characters who transition into real people with poignant moments. Finding ways to hopefully make those arcs real, and blending comedic and dramatic extremes in a way that is hopefully smooth and cohesive rather than jarring, took a lot of collaboration from colleagues,” said Thomas. “Winning Nora over also took some time.”

The Christmas Gift will be Theatre 33’s first live production with an audience in two years. Directed by Elizabeth Helman, it features some notable local actors including Ed Schoaps as The Preacher, Ryan Carty as TV Man, Allison Saucy as The Woman, Tom Hewitt as The Homeless Man, Jeff Sanders as The Professor, Erica Towe as The Marketer and Sophia Brown as The Teenager.

The Christmas Gift
By Thomas Nabhan. Directed by Elizabeth Helman
When: 7 p.m. Dec 10, 11, 15, 16 and 17, and 2 p.m. Dec 12
Where: In the Putnam Studio at Pelton Theatre, Willamette University, 900 State St
Cost: $15
Info: theatre33.org 

Are you a playwright? 

Theatre 33 is accepting script submissions through January 1, 2022 for its 2022 summer season.

What are they looking for in a script? 

• Oregon and Pacific Northwest playwrights
• Previously unproduced full-length drama or comedy (70- to 150-minute run time)
• Maximum of six actors. Doubling allowed provided a doubling plan is included with the cast list.

Learn more at theatre33.org.

This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 12 (Winter 2021/22)

Author: Carlee Wright

Carlee Wright is a community instigator with a grand love for Salem and notably fashionable shoes (Hello, John Fluevog!) who turns waste into wearable art in her "spare" time.