[NEohioPAL]Glowing Review of Child's Christmas at Actors' Summit

[Thackaberr at aol.com]

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Poet's boyhood tale is an elegant holiday treat
Actors' Summit play `Child's Christmas in Wales' is charming
By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

A Child's Christmas in Wales is holiday storytelling at its best -- simple 
yet elegantly beautiful.

The Actors' Summit production, which is becoming a seasonal tradition at the 
Hudson theater, brings to life the wonderment of Christmas as seen through a 
child's eyes. That child is the young Dylan Thomas of Wales, who as an adult 
poet rolls all the warm, toasty memories of his childhood Christmases into 
one wonderful snowball.

This play, set in 1930s southern Wales, has plenty of magical moments. But on 
Thursday evening, its first act didn't elicit the same warm glow I 
experienced last year from the moment the actors assumed the stage. This 
year's cast -- which features nine regulars and five new actors -- seemed to 
get into a more cohesive Christmas spirit by the second act.

All in all, you can't help but be won over by this charming family story. The 
pleasant tale begins with young Dylan saying his evening prayers on Christmas 
Eve, digging into his Christmas stocking the next morning eating a breakfast 
of cockles and laverbread (a traditional Welsh breakfast).

He plays with his two best friends and comes back to the house for presents 
and dinner with his aunts, uncles and cousins. After dinner, the 
intergenerational family makes merry with old-fashioned storytelling. In 
between, Dylan and his friends engage in some believable rivalry with his 
snotty girl cousins.

As Peter Voinovich's grown Thomas describes all these familiar, heartwarming 
scenes, he creates wonderful word pictures. We can just picture the ``big, 
woolly ginger dog'' Dylan prays for for Christmas and just smell Mrs. Thomas' 
wonderful Christmas pudding.

In one of the show's most magical moments, the actors playing Dylan, his 
friends and his girl cousins unfold a beautifully surprising prop to 
represent the glistening, frozen sea that they're playing on. When this 
occurred, you could hear the oohs of delight from the audience.

But for some reason, that ``sea'' proved more treacherous this year than 
last, with actor Thomas Cummings losing his footing but recovering and 
Voinovich actually taking a tumble at the end of the scene. He recovered 
well, ad libbing about the ``ice.''

Actors' Summit's two-tiered stage looks warm and inviting with a lighted 
Christmas garland snaking around a proscenium, a Christmas tree and pretty 
white lights glowing through a sheer white fabric backdrop. The set mainly 
features the interior of the Dylan home, with graceful couches, chairs and a 
dining room table.

A Child's Christmas in Wales is full of lovely music, including traditional 
carols both set to their original lyrics and changed to continue the 
storytelling.

In the play's opening song of In the Bleak Midwinter, Mindi Bonde (Aunt 
Nellie) stood out like a sore thumb Thursday night because she didn't look 
animated in the least.

The rest of the cast looked very pleasantly animated while in song.

The finest singers of the bunch are Jason Brown and Thomas Cummings, who play 
youngsters Tom and Jack, singing O Come All Ye Faithful in Latin.

Dylan's colorful family includes killjoy Uncle Tudyr (Robert Keith), neurotic 
Aunt Bessie (Deb Holthus) and very political Uncle Glyn (James Brown).

In this family, everyone has to participate in the Christmas storytelling 
with riddles and ghost stories.

It's a daylong experience that leaves the young Dylan feeling completely 
satisfied and should make audience members feel the same.

Theater critic Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at <A HREF="mailto:kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com">
kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com</A> 

    
    


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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT  SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Poet's boyhood tale is an elegant holiday treat<BR>
<B>Actors' Summit play `Child's Christmas in Wales' is charming</B><BR>
<B>By Kerry Clawson</FONT><FONT  COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></B><BR>
</FONT><FONT  COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"><B>Beacon Journal staff writer</FONT><FONT  COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></B><BR>
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<I>A Child's Christmas in Wales </I>is holiday storytelling at its best -- simple yet elegantly beautiful.<BR>
<BR>
The Actors' Summit production, which is becoming a seasonal tradition at the Hudson theater, brings to life the wonderment of Christmas as seen through a child's eyes. That child is the young Dylan Thomas of Wales, who as an adult poet rolls all the warm, toasty memories of his childhood Christmases into one wonderful snowball.<BR>
<BR>
This play, set in 1930s southern Wales, has plenty of magical moments. But on Thursday evening, its first act didn't elicit the same warm glow I experienced last year from the moment the actors assumed the stage. This year's cast -- which features nine regulars and five new actors -- seemed to get into a more cohesive Christmas spirit by the second act.<BR>
<BR>
All in all, you can't help but be won over by this charming family story. The pleasant tale begins with young Dylan saying his evening prayers on Christmas Eve, digging into his Christmas stocking the next morning eating a breakfast of cockles and laverbread (a traditional Welsh breakfast).<BR>
<BR>
He plays with his two best friends and comes back to the house for presents and dinner with his aunts, uncles and cousins. After dinner, the intergenerational family makes merry with old-fashioned storytelling. In between, Dylan and his friends engage in some believable rivalry with his snotty girl cousins.<BR>
<BR>
As Peter Voinovich's grown Thomas describes all these familiar, heartwarming scenes, he creates wonderful word pictures. We can just picture the ``big, woolly ginger dog'' Dylan prays for for Christmas and just smell Mrs. Thomas' wonderful Christmas pudding.<BR>
<BR>
In one of the show's most magical moments, the actors playing Dylan, his friends and his girl cousins unfold a beautifully surprising prop to represent the glistening, frozen sea that they're playing on. When this occurred, you could hear the oohs of delight from the audience.<BR>
<BR>
But for some reason, that ``sea'' proved more treacherous this year than last, with actor Thomas Cummings losing his footing but recovering and Voinovich actually taking a tumble at the end of the scene. He recovered well, ad libbing about the ``ice.''<BR>
<BR>
Actors' Summit's two-tiered stage looks warm and inviting with a lighted Christmas garland snaking around a proscenium, a Christmas tree and pretty white lights glowing through a sheer white fabric backdrop. The set mainly features the interior of the Dylan home, with graceful couches, chairs and a dining room table.<BR>
<BR>
<I>A Child's Christmas in Wales </I>is full of lovely music, including traditional carols both set to their original lyrics and changed to continue the storytelling.<BR>
<BR>
In the play's opening song of <I>In the Bleak Midwinter, </I>Mindi Bonde (Aunt Nellie) stood out like a sore thumb Thursday night because she didn't look animated in the least.<BR>
<BR>
The rest of the cast looked very pleasantly animated while in song.<BR>
<BR>
The finest singers of the bunch are Jason Brown and Thomas Cummings, who play youngsters Tom and Jack, singing <I>O Come All Ye Faithful </I>in Latin.<BR>
<BR>
Dylan's colorful family includes killjoy Uncle Tudyr (Robert Keith), neurotic Aunt Bessie (Deb Holthus) and very political Uncle Glyn (James Brown).<BR>
<BR>
In this family, everyone has to participate in the Christmas storytelling with riddles and ghost stories.<BR>
<BR>
It's a daylong experience that leaves the young Dylan feeling completely satisfied and should make audience members feel the same.<BR>
<BR>
<I>Theater critic Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at <A HREF="mailto:kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com">kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com</A></I></I> <BR>
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