” A Q Brothers Christmas Carol”

Highly Recommended ***** There are days that we need a “good laugh”. As we live through our days, often the plate that has been dished out to us is filled with serious “stuff”. Business may be off! You may have health problems! What you hear about our political world may be disarming! We need to laugh! Well, if you want 80 minutes of pure fun, the “A Q Brothers Christmas carol”, now on the stage of Chicago Shakespeare’s “YARD” theater at navy Pier. This is not your typical Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his re-birth to enjoying life and in particular, Christmas”, but is instead a hip-hop “Ad-rap-tation” of the story handled by four incredible and highly energetic men.

I believe that this is the fifth year that CST has hosted this zany yuletide production, first upstairs in their Studio” venue and now in the Yard which is much larger, but still provides the intimacy that this show calls for. Written by the Q Brothers, JQ ( who plays Marley, Belle, Ghost-Present and Tim, in addition to being a creator and co-director) along with his brother GQ who does a great Scrooge, along with a cast of TWO, the incredible Jackson Doran and Postell Pringle ( who also helped on the original creation) along with the fabulous DJ, Clayton Stamper, who resides atop the set ( designed by Scott Davis , who also did the costumes), this is a real treat.

If you love the classic “A Christmas Carol” and are able to take a look at something more modern and up to date, you will have fun. If you need to break away from what is happening in your life, this show will make you forget anything that may be bothering you, and the great feelings will last for hours after.

With the exception of GQ’s Scrooge, the other three players play all the other characters, often doing it right before our eyes, onstage. There is a scene where Pringle plays both Bob Cratchit and his daughter Martha at the same time, using his voice and a wig ( the wigs are by Melissa Veal and work well during their transitions). While this is the fifth year of the show, I noticed many changes from each prior production. The beauty of live theater is just that. It is live and therefore can change. In fact, in last night’s opening, there was a scene where Doran was taken aback by a change in delivery by the incredible JQ and was close to breaking-up. In a serious play, this could create havoc, but in this production, it added to the spice and the fun. We were in on it and loved it!

The theater itself is decked out for the holidays and set up with a cabaret floor- tables and chairs where some of the performers move thru and have contact with the audience members. Pure fun is what you will have and even if you have seen it before, you will enjoy this version as much…or more!

“A Q Brothers Christmas Carol” is only here thru the 23rd with performances as follows:

Stage: The Yard

Show Type: Performance Art

Box Office: 312-595-5600

www.chicagoshakes.com

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES:

December 19th- Open Captioned

Discounted parking in the Navy Pier Garage ( bring your ticket to the box office for validation)

To see what others are saying, visit http://www.theatreinchicao.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at ” A Q Brothers Christmas carol”.