The holidays can be hectic. Juggling greeting cards, festive gatherings, gifts, endless visits and of course, the ex-husband you’ve employed to trick your religious mother. At least, that’s the case for Wendy in the play On the Farce Day of Christmas.
The play opened Dec. 4 and runs until Dec. 21 at the Ottawa Little Theatre, Canada’s longest-running community theatre. This year, in its 111th season, the theatre is breaking its run of classic Christmas plays by staging a comedy written for adult audiences and performed by an all-volunteer cast.
“This play is fairly recent,” said Jane Morris, the head of the OLT’s season planning committee. “It only just became available for amateurs in the year that I was selecting titles for this season.” The play was written by Emmy award winner Ken Levine.
A Christmas play is an important part of the theatre’s revenue each season. “It’s been fairly clear to us as time goes on that any play in December that does not involve Christmas doesn’t tend to sell very well,” she said. “And a play that does deal with Christmas tends to sell very well. So, it’s a bit of a no-brainer.”
The theatre boasts a capacity of 382.
“Typically, the people that will come and see the plays, we will have a lot of people that end up coming back,” said Andrée Benson, a volunteer at OLT, who works the front of the house during some shows. “People have their season tickets, and will pick many plays they want to see that season,” she added.
Christmas classics are widely loved by audiences and usually sell out weeks in advance.
But there are only so many Christmas classics to perform. In recent years the theatre has focused on iconic scripts such as Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol.
On the Farce Day of Christmas is showing impressive ticket sales, despite being a departure from more famous seasonal classics.
“It is selling extremely well,” said Morris. “Most of the shows are already showing limited tickets available. So it’s working.” The theatre hopes sales will keep their momentum.
The play is not recommended for younger audiences.
“It’s actually fairly tame but it is a little bit naughty. We did put a note recommending it for children 12 and up because we didn’t want people to assume it was a family Christmas play,” Morris said. “I’d say from tweens up would probably find it pretty funny.”
Preparing for the performance has been fun for the cast. “People are obviously in the mood for a good laugh,” said director Sarah Hearn.
The setting of the holidays is familiar to most and the cast says it is excited to put a comedic spin on some of the more mundane moments of the season.
“Sometimes, though, you really don’t know ’til you have an audience. They can laugh in a place you are not expecting. So every show is different. I have also been given the pleasure of working with my fellow actors, who all have great comic timing, so that has helped a lot,” said Amy Kennedy, the lead in the play. “Ultimately, if you are having a hard time keeping a straight face, you are on the right track.”
“There are many things that make the Christmas productions special at OLT, like the hot chocolate we have available at the intermission, and the show-themed cocktails at the bar,” said Kennedy. “For me, though, it’s the production crew. At this time of year, everyone is busy preparing for Christmas with their families, and these dedicated volunteers come in every night to make sure the show happens. Without them, the show would not happen.”
Following the production of On the Farce Day of Christmas, the 2025 season for Ottawa Little Theatre will be in full swing with productions that include The Shawshank Redemption, Now and Then, And Then There Were None.
