By Christopher Joseph
Mark Brown’s hilarious new play, A Frosty Night, is now at the Loft in Downtown Dayton, a production of the Human Race Theatre Company. This World Premiere could easily have the title “A Frothy Night“–as the oddly amusing story centers on an interesting pun of characters such as Mrs. Noel Claus played by Christine Brunner, the Snowman, aka Frosty, played by Tim Lile, and Sharon aka the Snowman’s damaged wife, played by Mierka Girten.
The Story of A Frosty Night
The story centers around one night of havoc at the North Pole as Sharon seeks to melt her infidel husband. Noel must try to stop her, but as the night progresses, not everything is as cut and dry as it seems.
Soap opera style madness is quickly let loose as the play focuses on the fragility of the two female characters’ lifelong friendship. Sharon flies off the handle at the North Pole home of her friend after learning of the Snowman’s infidelity. (She comes ready with a flame thrower ready to melt her lover down to his top hat.)
Turning into a revealing moment between the friends, they reflect on their past relationships. Sharon has many previous failed marriages. She reveals her general jealousy of her friends, who presume a stable and happy marriage. On the other hand, Noel speaks of the famous Santa as not present in their unhappy and joyless marriage, focusing on his work and goodwill towards all humans as she reflects on their romance, and childlessness.
There are also Elves!
An amusing side story weaves into their relationship drama, which centers on Noel taking care of the failing family business. A certain elf has been embezzling Christmas cookies and selling them on the side. Resorting to drastic measures to extract information from this mischief worker, her friend Sharon intervenes and curiously defends this thief. Oh, the treachery amongst friends goes deep!
Then there is the deviant Snowman (Lile), weaving his malicious magic between the two friends. At the local bar he also weaves his magic carrot between several dancers. (I did mention this holiday story is rated R, correct?) Alas, there is also a wild, wild plot twist.
Design for A Frosty Night
A doff of the top hat to the production team whose beautiful Christmasy set would make any other holiday set designers extremely jealous! Reflecting all the chaos in the famous couple’s amiable North Pole home, it is complete with seasonal items, a cozy fireplace, and vintage furniture. There is also is the eye-candy of a traditional rotary phone, claiming a direct line to the North Pole Pizza Delivery. The large, picturesque bay window is usable and overlooks a believable snow-covered landscape.
A clever part of the scenery and direction, the elf couple and their mob family puppets roam the exterior landscape with only their floppy hats floating past the window or up against the Dutch-style front door to communicate with the protagonists. Hilarity erupts when we see the backside of the bay window, revealing it wholly covered in floppy hats of the elf mob sniffing out their boy. They don’t play!
Overall
Outlandish as this implausible play is, with its eye-rolling central themes and omnipresent pop culture puns (Santa getting sued by the family of the grandmother he ran over), it’s an oddly amusing tale brought to life by the fine acting of Brunner and Girten and direction by Emily N. Wells.
After A Frosty Night‘s hour + worth of backstabbing mayhem and foolery, it comes down to the two friends reflecting on their poor choices and the strength of their decades-long bond. The human connection is the power of this story.
Tickets to A Frosty Night
Get more information about tickets and special performances HERE. A Frosty Night runs only through December 22.
Sunday, December 22 • 2:00PM performances will offer a PARENTS’ DAY OUT. You watch the show, and they will entertain the kids (ages 5-12) with a world-class theatre workshop (a $100+ value) that is free with the purchase of your tickets. AND following, enjoy a candid, post-show conversation with the cast.
