Holiday House: Christmas Bends
Mason Holdings' latest theatrical experience is the story of an oddly ageless child who revisits the many Christmases of her past. A darkly comedic experiential tour through phantom memories.
We meet the child alone in the confines of her little room as she shares her space, fantastical games, and remarkable imaginative resources. We see her mother, father, brother, and grandmother, but only as family film footage projected onto the walls of her room. And we hear the escalating strife of a tumultuous family, but only through the child, who acts as a vessel for their many voices. 'Holiday House: Christmas Bends' is a psychological study of how we experience childhood as outsiders, struggling to navigate and comprehend a world of deeply fallible adults.
- Official Site
- 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Already closed
- 4th Street Theatre (East Village)
Cast & Creatives (8)
Play a fun game
Get alerts about your favorite artists and theater companies
Reviews (7)
4 Critics' Reviews
"Even by the yardstick of deep or edgy psychodrama, 'Holiday House: Christmas Bends,' is bafflingly incoherent. Weller's astonishing physical beauty and dancer's physique impresses one from the moment she rises from the ground...It's immediately clear that Weller has talent for miles. Still, precious little in this play makes sense...It simply does not work as a piece of storytelling." Full Review
"What’s with the warm holiday experience followed by a creepy, eerie one? I’m not exactly sure. But if you’re an adventurous theatregoer, 'Holiday House' intrigues. Weller’s performance is spine-chilling and riveting...You’ll be glad you treated yourself to something completely different and unique, just as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into. The show will initially heighten your holiday cheer and then cleverly disrupt it. This ain’t no Frank Capra Christmas." Full Review
"An unexpected, harrowing theatrical experience, and there is no hyperbole in calling it here an experience. It is rare that one feels so fully immersed in a dramatic work...Weller tricks the audience into following her through a spellbinding performance that begins full of whimsicality and gradually drifts into corridors quivering with madhouse echoes...'Holiday House' is, at times, flawed in its sheer freneticism, but all of the elements culminate in a highly memorable play." Full Review
"The play is avant-garde and strange; disjointed but oddly coherent...While the plot of the show and the meaning behind the dialogue is vague, the setting and the tone are irrefutable...The play is an immensely watchable performance mostly due to the infallible Tracy Weller whose mastering of the numerous characters is nothing short of absolutely astounding...Anyone who adores experimental, imaginative, and deeply thought-provoking theater should absolutely experience it." Full Review
3 Members' Reviews
See it if You like classics.
Don't see it if You are looking for show that is constantly changing.
See it if you want an innovative, somewhat-challenging work with a phenomenal performance, set and staging... if you want a truly unique experience
Don't see it if you are looking for a typical Christmas play and aren't open minded or curious