REVIEW: Twelve Days brings Christmas joy to lunchtime in Calgary
iPhoto caption: Photo by Ben Laird.
People can be hard and fast about their holiday traditions. Everyone’s got their thing — from letters to Santa and light display scouting, to annual rewatches of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. (Okay, maybe that last one’s just me.) However set in stone your holiday habits might be, Lunchbox Theatre and Forte Musical Theatre Guild’s lovely co-production Twelve Days might just convince you to add “attend Christmas musical” to your list.
Written and composed by Forte’s Joe Slabe, Twelve Days follows McGill music student and farmer boy Anton in his pursuit of Donna, an ambitious violin player and fellow student. Upon the discovery that Donna won’t be able to go home for the holidays, Anton takes it upon himself to bring Christmas to her. The problem? Anton’s wealthy roommate Robert has his sights set on the same girl.
Slabe’s plot is by no means revolutionary, but it certainly knows what it’s about: Christmas joy. Best described as a romantic comedy, the musical impressively toes the line between holiday cheesiness and delicate wit. Though the all-important meaning of Christmas is the heart of the script, it left me feeling delighted rather than spoon-fed. The “haha” moments outnumber the “aww” ones and, thanks to director Samantha Currie’s diligent hand, the sentimentality that one might expect from a Christmas musical is wielded deliberately and in measured doses.
Unsurprisingly, the play’s mushiest moments are its musical ones. Occasionally formulaic and with a penchant for perfect-rhyme lyrics, the score has its highs and lows. That said, Slabe’s tracks are unquestionably entertaining. Featuring 12 songs in all, the 65-minute musical is a satisfying balance of sung and spoken storytelling. Like the plot, the musical numbers are exactly what you would expect from a Christmas musical, and I would be lying if I said they weren’t a good time.
Slabe’s clever playwriting is reinforced by the show’s performers, one being Slabe himself. Leading man Devon Brayne is charming and sweet, making Anton an easy sell to audiences as the right choice for Donna who, played by Mara Teare, is an exquisitely warm love interest that commands the house with dazzle and humour. Slabe’s performance as Anton’s accordion-playing father, though brief, is hilarious, and his depiction of older Anton wonderfully bookends the show.
Eric Wigston, especially, is oh-so-fun in the role of sardonic rich-boy Robert. More of a foil than an outfight antagonist, he navigates his many comedic lines with untouchable ease and inspired much laughter at the opening performance I attended. Trust me when I say that his song about transistor radios, however dreary the topic may sound, is marvelous.
What really kicks the performances in Twelve Days up a notch is that, in addition to taking on the roles of actors and singers, the cast also assumes the role of musicians. That’s right — most of the accompaniment you hear onstage is live. I couldn’t help being impressed by the actors’ abilities to play complex pieces of music all the while singing in perfect harmony (with no sheet music to be seen!). With Teare on the violin, Wigston on the cello, Brayne on the guitar, and Slabe on the piano, the intimacy of the live music is a novel layer of the musical, making the production just that bit more cozy and festive.
Speaking of festive, Madeline Blondal’s set is both minimal and effective in lighting up the scene. The ever-present piano that supplies the majority of the show’s musical accompaniment is on a rotating platform, allowing for the illusion of multiple scene locations, and a fun curtain-pull reveal, which I’ll refrain from spoiling, amps up the overall whimsy.
More eye-catching than the set, though, are the production’s many props. Whether mason jar snow globes or oven mitt stockings, the array of christmas decor that Brayne’s character makes throughout the play are simultaneously funny in their DIY-ness and touching in their honest, though at times pathetic, efforts. Every reveal is as delightful for the characters as it is for the audience and leaves us eager to see what each of the 12 days of Slabe’s play will have in store.
Watching Twelve Days is reminiscent of opening up the door to a chocolate advent calendar: yes, you know what you’re gonna get, but heck if you don’t enjoy every second of it. In line with Lunchbox’s mandate, Twelve Days is a simple, yet heartwarming way to fill your lunchtime with Christmas cheer. If you haven’t already penciled it into your holiday season, I suggest you do so.
Twelve Days runs at Lunchbox Theatre until December 21. Tickets are available here.
Intermission reviews are independent and unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
Eve Beauchamp
Eve Beauchamp (they/them) is an award-winning Calgary-based theatre artist, playwright, and graduate of the BFA in Acting at the University of Ottawa. They are the co-artistic director of Levity Theatre Company and primarily create work that explores queerness, capitalism, and neurodivergence through humour, poetry, and storytelling. Currently, you can find them pursuing their Master of Fine Arts in Drama at the University of Calgary.
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