The Yule Tide Tales, Theatre upstairs at Lanagan’s Bar.

A glittering selection box of festively themed theatrical treats is currently on offer at Theatre Upstairs. Step out of the hustle and bustle of O’Connell Street in December and into the company’s alternative reworking of some Christmas classics, set in a very contemporary Dublin. Writers Gemma Doorly, Gary Duggan and Katie McCann have re-imagined O’Henry’s The Gift Of The Magi, Philip Van Doren Stern’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl respectively.

The pieces are directed by Gemma Doorly, Gary Duggan and Karl Shiels. The Gift of the Magi is a poignantly observed comic melodrama, in which James Jim Roche) and Della (Gene Rooney) try to remain upbeat in the face of crippling debt at Christmas-time. It’s a Wonderful Life sees downcast, downtrodden George (Stephen Kelly) meet a bubbly, charismatic stranger Laurence (Gerard Byrne), on Christmas Eve in a Howth pub. Have they met by chance or is it Divine intervention? The final piece, The Little Match Girl stays true to the melodramatic pathos of the Hans Christian Anderson original: a vulnerable young woman (Katie McCann) experiences a nightmare Christmas Eve on the mean streets of Dublin. Direction is tight as a drum in all three pieces and compact set design and clever lighting by the theatre’s team (Laura Honan and Sinead Kelly) makes optimum use of the pint-sized stage.

The three shows rotate lunchtimes during the week and also run evening performances Thursday through Saturday.

Review by A. Devereux

O. Henry’s THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, a re-imagining by Gemma Doorly, based on the original story.

WRITTEN & DIRECTED by Gemma Doorly

PERFORMED by Jim Roche and Gene Rooney

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Wednesday, Dec. 4TH @ 1PM

Saturday, Dec. 7TH @ 1PM & 7PM

Tuesday, Dec. 10TH @ 7PM (OMNIBUS PERFORMANCE)

Friday, Dec. 13TH @ 1PM & 7PM

Sunday, Dec. 15TH @ 3PM

Tuesday, Dec. 17TH @ 1PM

Friday, Dec. 20TH @ 1PM & 7PM

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE,a re-imaging by Gary Duggan,

WRITTEN & DIRECTED by Gary Duggan

PERFORMED by Stephen Kelly and Gerard Byrne

PERFORMANCE DATES / TIMES:

Friday, Dec. 6TH @ 1PM & 7PM

Sunday, Dec. 8TH @ 3PM Tuesday, Dec. 10TH @ 1PM

Tuesday, Dec. 10TH @ 7PM (OMNIBUS PERFORMANCE)

Thursday, Dec. 12TH @ 1PM & 7PM Wednesday,

Dec. 18TH @ 1PM Saturday, Dec. 21ST @ 1PM & 7PM

Hans Christian Anderson’s THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, a re-imagining by Katie McCann, based on the original story.

WRITTEN & PERFORMED by Katie McCann

DIRECTED by Karl Shiels

PERFORMANCE DATES / TIMES:

Tuesday, Dec. 3RD @ 1PM & 7PM

Thursday, Dec. 5TH @ 1PM & 7PM

Tuesday, Dec. 10TH @ 7PM (OMNIBUS PERFORMANCE)

Wednesday, Dec. 11TH @ 1PM

Saturday, Dec. 14TH @ 1PM & 7PM

Monday, Dec. 16TH @ 1PM

Thursday, Dec. 19TH @ 1PM & 7PM