‘Christmas Wonderthon’ provides comedy and satire
From left are Julia Hurd, Aude Mahieu, Johnny Reyes, Ki-Lin Baribeau, Ellie McCall, Cayleb Henderson, Annika McKnelly, Kylee Down, Alex DeFraga, Hannah Emmack, Kirra Buhagiar, Hannah Higuera, and Alex Empey creating lots of “Wonderthon” laughs.
From left, Cayleb Henderson, Ellie McCall, and Annika McKnelly satirize classic Christmas movies during their winter production, “Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon.” Photo by Davenport
The drama department’s “Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon” was an enjoyable show to see. It satirized the average Christmas romcom and pointed out all the holiday movie cliches, resulting in wonderful comedy. The show’s plot centered around multiple couples, many of whom, at first, appear to be destined for love during the holiday season.
Carol, played by Zanna Peterson, was a character who became more and more obsessed with her love interest throughout the play. This character was an especially comical one, especially once she stole his phone and began sending herself romantic text messages. While the show was a comedy, the character of Carol revealed something serious about Hallmark Christmas movies: many actions that would be considered horrifying in a real-life relationships are presented as perfectly acceptable in these films, such as stalking for love, in which creepy, often criminal behaviors are presented as a sweet, romantic gesture.
Carol’s compulsiveness is a prime example of this, but makes light of the true nature of this trope in a comedic way, as to be entertaining for a high school audience. The use of dark humor can facilitate genuinely important subjects being discussed calmly and in an entertaining fashion. By making fun of certain behaviors, the audience might see them in a different light.
In the end, all the characters met up in the airport, right as their love interests were trying to catch their flights. Overall, the play was enjoyable and entertaining with the added bonus of saying something important about today’s corny Christmas movies.
The drama department is already preparing for auditions for its spring musical, which will involve Disney music, so audiences are looking forward to what’s next from these talented student actors, stage crew, and their devoted leader, Ms. Volpa.