A Christmas Story: An attempt to create a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Photo: Maria Vartanova

There is no denying the enthusiastic reaction of the audience to the opening-night performance of the Ottawa Little Theatre production of A Christmas Story. Neither is there any denying my total bewilderment that this set of charmless vignettes about a nine-year-old boy’s obsession with a BB gun would be of lasting interest.

Recalling the Christmas of 1939, the adult Ralph narrates his memories of his strategy to obtain the gun, as well as his father’s winning an extraordinarily ugly lamp, a young love interest, a friend freezing his tongue to a metal post and overcoming a bully. Ongoing jokes about the repetitive family menu, the whines of the younger brother, father’s battle with the furnace and the neighbour’s dogs wear thin. And a moment as a pink rabbit — don’t ask — is not worth even a snicker.

The OLT production, directed by Brian Cano, is clearly working hard to create a silk purse out of this sow’s ear and one is very conscious of the amount of effort involved.

The good news is that the movement between childhood memories and present-day commentary is handled well. Some of the technical aspects, such as the use of video screens of snowy landscapes and the Santa Claus cave, are also effective.

As the adult Ralph, Kenny Hayes is lively and keeps the action moving as best he can. As the nine-year-old Ralph, Jonas Blackburn is equally bubbly and there are some good moments when the two come together and reflect each other’s movements.

But the corny material has very limited appeal. The 1983 movie version received mixed reviews. The stage musical version fared better, partly because the music masked the clichés. It is really a matter of how much corn anyone wants to ingest during the holiday season.

A Christmas Story continues at Ottawa Little Theatre until December 19.

A note for the program compiler. When more than one performer plays a role, please make it clear who is on stage on a particular night.

A Christmas Story

By Philip Grecian

From stories and film by Jean Shepherd

Ottawa Little Theatre

Director: Brian Cano

Set: Barry Daley

Lighting: David Ing

Sound: Lindsay Wilson

Costumes: Glynis Ellens

Cast:

Ralph………………………………………………Kenny Hayes

Schwartz…………………………………………..Alex Friesen/Isaiah Levesque

Flick……………………………………………….Jacob Segreto/Ryan Berube

Helen………………………………………………Lilliana McGinnis/Maya Nussbaum

Esther Jane…………………………………Meghan DoCanto-Primeau/Frédérique Guyot

Mother……………………………………………..Christina Roman

Old man……………………………………………Roy Van Hooydonk

Randy……………………………………….Madeleine DoCanto-Primeau/Cooper Dunn

Ralphie…………………………………………….Alexandre Phaneuf/Jonas Blackburn

Scut………………………………………………..Duncan Thompson/Grady McVey

Miss Shields……………………………………….Nancy Thompson