The holidays can be such a crazy busy time, so sometimes we need to be reminded to slow down and enjoy the season. A good way to relish in this festive time is to create new memories by taking in a Christmas play. From traditional to avant-garde, stages across Atlanta offer a wealth of theatrical options for Christmastime.
After two seasons at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, the Alliance Theatre’s annual holiday production returns to the Woodruff Arts Center. (Its stage underwent a $32 million renovation.) Rosemary Newcott directs the 30th-anniversary production, which again stars David de Vries (recently seen playing past AJC managing editor John Walter in Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell”) as that crotchety old buzzkill, Ebenezer Scrooge. And for the first time in a decade, the role of Tiny Tim is played by a girl , Karah Adams, 11. As integral as the stars are to the production, so are the special effects of Scrooge’s three ghostly visitors, and the stunning Victorian-era set design and costumes, which help transport the audience to 19th century London.
Through Dec. 24. $25 and up. Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta. 404-733-4650, alliancetheatre.org/christmas.
The Shakespeare Tavern also presents an adaptation of the holiday classic, starring Drew Reeves as Scrooge, directed by J. Tony Brown. True to its name, the production contains lots of music, as well as storytellers that bring to life passages from the original text. Enhance the “olde English” mood by dining on shepherd’s pie or a Cornish pasty before the play. The menu also includes soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts, as well as alcoholic beverages. Food service begins one hour and 15 minutes before showtime and ends 10 minutes before the curtain rises. Dessert is served during intermission.
Dec. 6-23. $25-45. Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St., Atlanta. 404-874-5299, shakespearetavern.com.
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You can always count on Dad’s Garage to subvert tradition. These masters of improv are here to lampoon fake holiday cheer and remind us that Victorian England wasn’t as quaint as it looks in the movies. Set in a factory-polluted London where the snow is gray and a bad cough is critical, this dark and irreverent adaptation is part scripted show and part improv. Ostensibly, it is a straight staging of the play. But at the top of each show, a random character appears on stage, and the cast, who has no advance knowledge of who it will be, has to improvise their reactions to the “invasion” while sticking as closely as they can to the script. Just who that character might be runs the gamut from people in pop culture and the news to fictitious characters. Mrs. Claus and a Tyrannosaurus rex have made appearances in past shows. Geared toward fans of adult humor, this show is not for those easily offended.
Through Dec. 23. $24.50-47.50. Dad’s Garage Theatre, 569 Ezzard St., Atlanta. 404-523-3141, dadsgarage.com.
Equally hilarious and irreverent is Out Front Theatre’s production of “Christmas with the Crawfords.” Created by Richard Winchester and written by Mark Sargent, this campy musical parody is based on an actual 1949 live radio broadcast from Joan Crawford’s glamorous Brentwood mansion on Christmas Eve. Expect lots of vintage silver screen glamour, at least one wire hanger joke and riotous moments when guests such as Ethel Merman, Carmen Miranda and Liberace stop by.
Dec. 5-21, $15-25, Out Front Theatre, 999 Brady Ave., Atlanta. 404-448-2755, outfronttheatre.com.
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Co-creator Larry Larson stars as the new owner of a diner in Horizon Theatre’s holiday-themed sequel to “Waffle Palace,” which he penned with long-time collaborator Eddie Levi Lee. Hilarity ensues as a cast of quirky characters gather in the greasy spoon to work or dine. Pandemonium breaks out when Krampus, the anti-Santa, arrives and attempts to douse everyone’s holiday cheer. Rob Cleveland costars, and Lisa Adler directs.
Through Dec. 29. $30 and up. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave., Atlanta. 404-584-7450, horizontheatre.com.
Fans of the upstairs-downstairs drama of “Downton Abbey,” as well as Jane Austen’s many admirers, get an early Christmas present with this “Pride and Prejudice”-inspired play by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon at Theatrical Outfit. As the manor is being prepared for holiday festivities, a scandal brews between a housekeeper, a maid and a groomsman in the lower levels of Pemberley. Carolyn Cook directs.
Through Dec. 29. $15 and up. Theatrical Outfit, The Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St., Atlanta. 678-528-1500, theatricaloutfit.org.
Topher Payne directs Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s slapstick, quick-change comedy in which two actors, Jill Hames and Enoch King, portray 21 kooky characters who live and create hilarious havoc in the tiny town of Tuna, Texas. A sequel to the popular comedy “Greater Tuna,” this holiday-themed show welcomes appearances by Didi Snavely, owner of Didi’s Used Weapons, her UFO-obsessed husband R. R. Snavely, and snooty Vera Carp, leader of the Smut-Snatchers of the New Order.
Dec. 13-29. $35 and up. Georgia Ensemble Theatre. Conant Performing Arts Center, Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 770-641-1260, get.org.
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