Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2009

For their 113th Christmas presentation, the Tokyo International Players offer a bleak but riotous sendup of Xmas in the 21st century. Penned by award-winning playwright Christopher Durang (Betty’s Summer Vacation), Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge turns Dickens’ A Christmas Carol upside-down. In this “half-musical,” Scrooge and The Ghost keep showing up late, while Bob Cratchit is a spineless blob of a man and Mrs. Cratchit a suicidal drunk. The production is directed by Ron Scott and stars Tim Knowles as Scrooge, Brian Berdanier as Cratchit, Michelle Yamazaki as his wife, and Sonja Inge as The Ghost, here a “theatrical, sassy, black woman.”

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge
Comedy adaptation of the classic Dickens Christmas story by Tokyo International Players. Until Dec 6, various times, ¥2,500 (student)/¥4,000 (adv)/¥4,500 (door). Theater Echo Ebisu. http://www.tokyoplayers.org