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Our View: Making the season bright, but safe

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Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber donates to Family Service Association

<p>A Jewish mom, frantically texting her Christian husband for back-up, tries to explain Santa Claus to their child.</p><p>Two burglars spend their holiday breaking into a home &#8212; where the lady of the house, decked out in her holiday housecoat, gives them more than they bargained for.</p><p>And that unusual family is back, too, the one where the youngest kid is a preteen in an adult&#8217;s body, thanks to the time traveling he did when he strepped into the refrigerator.</p><p>You&#8217;ll meet all these characters, and more, if you attend Gaslight Theatre&#8217;s Playroom: Home for the Holidays, a collection of original one-acts set for Dec. 12 through Dec. 21 in King&#8217;s College Theatre, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday.</p><p>Over the past seven years the Playroom series, which local playwright/former Gaslight artistic director Matthew S. Hinton started in 2012, has taken audiences to the kitchen, bathroom, attic, master bedroom, garage, back porch, and dining room of a house.</p><p>The series has included the work of 16 regional playwrights, 98 cast members and directors, and 69 one acts, each taking place in the chosen room of the year.</p><p>This year&#8217;s setting is the living room, and Gaslight Theatre board members say it will be the last in the Playroom series.</p><p>&#8220;We feel it&#8217;s time to retire the old house,&#8221; artistic director Dave Reynolds said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve had so many wonderful theatrical moments in it, but the time has come to wrap it up. Rest assured though that Gaslight will certainly be including original one acts in our upcoming seasons. We&#8217;ve come to really enjoy featuring the works of so many talented local playwrights.&#8221;</p><p>This year&#8217;s one-acts, each lasting between 8 and 15 minutes, include: <strong>&#8220;The Song,&#8221;</strong> written and performed by Alicia Nordstrom.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s autobiographical,&#8221; said Nordstrom, of Hazleton, who wrote the play earlier this year. &#8220;I&#8217;m Jewish, and I had to explain things about Christmas to my son &#8230; and I have no idea how Santa Claus comes down the chimney.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8220;The Shablormawoop&#8221;</strong> includes cast members Kim Verruggio, Beth Powers and Max Reynolds. &#8220;Jennifer Hill wrote it, and she has such a youthful and inventive creative spirit,&#8221; director Brandi George said, adding the one-act deals with loss.</p><p><strong>&#8220;A Very Criminal Christmas&#8221;</strong> by Lori M. Myers, is directed by Allie Liguori with cast members Scott Rave, Mike Wawrzynek and Shelley Bartolomei.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m the stumbling, bumbling burglar,&#8221; Wawrzynek said, adding with a nod toward Rave, &#8220;He&#8217;s the brains of the operation.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I live in a house that&#8217;s being burglarized,&#8221; said Bartolomei, likewise speaking in character. &#8221; I&#8217;m gonna change their ways.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8220;The Gift&#8221;</strong> written by Adam Ercolani and directed by Mollie Dolley, includes cast mates Alicia Nordstrom, Seth Brandreth, Jarrett Gabriel and Eyanna Gruver.</p><p><strong>&#8220;Ghost Story,&#8221;</strong> written by Rachel Luann Strayer and directed by Mollie Dooley, includes cast mates Lydia Traill and Eric Lutz.</p><p><strong>&#8220;My </strong><strong>Dear,</strong>&#8221; written by Emily Halbing and directed by Jon Vojtko, is narrated by Tim McDermott and includes cast mates Dave Reynolds and Dacyn Koretz.</p><p><strong>&#8220;Mr. Christmas,&#8221;</strong> written and directed by Dane Bower, features Brad Barry and includes cast mates Mike Wawrzyek, Mandy Pennington, Mollie Dooley, DJ Nat and Rob Klubeck.</p><p><strong>&#8220;Christmas With the Jones,&#8221;</strong> written by Michael Pavese and directed by Brandi George, includes cast mates Dane Bower, Jennifer McClinton Temple, Mollie Dooley and Mike Wawrzynek. &#8220;It&#8217;s a nod to sitcoms of the past, like &#8216;Leave it to Beaver,&#8217; &#8221; George said. &#8220;But the &#8216;picture perfect&#8217; family might not be as perfect as they appear.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8220;All the Year,&#8221;</strong> written by Matthew S. Hinton and directed by Dave Reynolds, includes cast mates Anne Rodella, Mike Little, Brandi Geoge and Jameel Powers.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Drake, the youngest kid,&#8221; Powers said. &#8220;Dave Reynolds explained to me Drake is 12 years old in a 30-year-old body because he time traveled through the refrigerator.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;All the Year&#8221; brings back the characters fans will remember from Hinton&#8217;s previous Playroom one-acts, George said, predicting Gaslight audiences will love it.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s like the big bow we&#8217;re trying around this present.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mike Wawrzynek and Shelley Bartolomei rehearse a scene from &#8216;A Very Criminal Christmas,&#8217; a play written by Lori M. Myers that will be presented as one of nine one-acts Dec. 12 through Dec. 21 at King&#8217;s College Theatre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_play.room1_.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mike Wawrzynek and Shelley Bartolomei rehearse a scene from &#8216;A Very Criminal Christmas,&#8217; a play written by Lori M. Myers that will be presented as one of nine one-acts Dec. 12 through Dec. 21 at King&#8217;s College Theatre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Brandi George | Gaslight Theatre </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_play.room2_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The character played by Mike Wawrzynek, left, is a &#8216;stumbling, bumbling burglar&#8217; who may get his comeuppance from the homeowner played by Shelley Bartolomei in &#8216;A Very Criminal Christmas.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_play.room2_.jpg</photo1><caption1>The character played by Mike Wawrzynek, left, is a &#8216;stumbling, bumbling burglar&#8217; who may get his comeuppance from the homeowner played by Shelley Bartolomei in &#8216;A Very Criminal Christmas.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Brandi George | Gaslight Theatre </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>For this final year, &#8216;Playroom&#8217; series set in living room</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Playroom: Home for the Holidays</p><p><strong>Who:</strong> Gaslight Theatre</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12-14 and Dec. 19-21 with matinee 2 p.m. Dec. 15</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> King&#8217;s College Theatre, rear 133 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $15 for adults; $12 for students, senior and military. Tickets will not be reserved or sold in advance but will be available at the door. The box office will open one hour prior to performances.</p><p><strong>The series</strong> is not suitable for children.</p></factboxMeta></div>

Gaslight Theatre stagesnine holiday one-acts