6 New Ways to Laugh this Holiday Season

Theatre 33 unwraps another round of merriment with Holiday Shorts Part 2, a collection of six brand-new comedies tackling airport chaos, cookie-exchange drama, elf revolts, and more.

Full-length Christmas plays aren’t something most playwrights take on since they’re only performed one month out of the year, said Executive Director Tom Nabhan, but short 10-page scripts are another story. “Short, comedic skits are a great format for a fun night,” he said. “And we can feature several playwrights in one night.”

This year’s lineup features:

• Stranded — A storm strands Frank and Bob at an airport on Christmas Eve, where they deal with more than bad weather.
• Jingle Bell Rock — Holiday stress triggers an operatic reaction.
• How to Be the Villain of the Cookie Exchange — A junior high teacher cookie exchange tells all.
• 13 Days of Christmas — A remarkably surprising, unorthodox visit from Uncle Larry.
• The Elf on the Shelf Is Moving — A mischievous elf on the shelf comes alive to sabotage an awkward mom visit.
• Sweet Christmas — Facing an elf revolt, Mrs. Santa is ready to throw in the towel on Christmas.

While the through line that connects each of these plays could be Christmas stress, said Tom, he hopes comedy is the real glue that binds them together.

The ensemble — Chelsea Janzen, Gregory Jolivette, Tom Nabhan, Elizabeth Rothan, Simone Stewart, and Matthieu Voisine — takes on multiple roles throughout the night, shifting between stories and tones. “That shifting is the best part of acting,” said Tom. “Creating different characters is more of an opportunity than a challenge.”

Beyond the actors’ work onstage, the production also reflects Theatre 33’s broader purpose of developing new plays.

“The most exciting aspect of anything we produce is that it’s the first time…the first time the play has been done, the first time an actor brings the character to life, and the first time the playwright and audience experience it,” said Tom. “All of that magnifies the risks and rewards of everything we do.”

So come experience it for the first time, and find a little humor this holiday season.

Holiday Shorts Part 2

7 p.m. Dec 12-13, 17-20 and 2 p.m. Dec 14, 20-21
Putnam Studio at the M. Lee Pelton Theatre @ Willamette University
Tickets are $18. Click here to purchase.

This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 26 (Winter 2025/26)

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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.