SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2024
Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Patrick Buchanan, Rhodri Lewis and Caroline Curran in 'Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'
Photo courtesy of Caroline Curran
A topically comedic and concisely revelatory character piece, Caroline Curran's Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, directed by Dominic Montague, brings repeated bursts of laughter and spells of contemplation from attaching finely tuned performances of the partly spoken and partly musical kind to a thoughtful core. In positively echoing elements of Planes, Trains & Automobiles and The Terminal in comically but sensitively expressing the necessity of "opening up" in potentially very pressing circumstances, Curran honestly and admirably shines a spotlight on people's complications – while never losing sight of setting out to ensure that the audience upstairs at Belfast's MAC get to have a good time.
It's the night before Christmas in the Keep 'Er Lit Lounge of the fictional Barra Best Regional Airport, a setting that partly recalls Belfast's own Best airport prior to its expansion and renaming in the noughties. Patrick Buchanan's Marty and Rhodri Lewis's Frankie are best (there's that word again) mates who want to fly to an Elvis Presley tribute concert in Las Vegas while they still can. But delays to their flight will ground them in the lounge for at least a little more conversation, while we and they encounter many characters played not only by Curran but also the two male performers at different stages throughout the production.
Patrick Buchanan, Rhodri Lewis and Caroline Curran in 'Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'
Photo courtesy of Caroline Curran
That's pretty much where Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas appears to be heading on the surface – an opportunity for an extended sketch show. But, as with Curran's Are Yule Being Served?, it's a show with a heartfelt impact that slowly increases while one enjoys and possibly even relates to the comedy. Friendships are tested, painful truths are heard and a handful of Elvis songs are sung among clever costuming and wordplay, perhaps most significantly with the contextual examination of the word "best". We aren't only talking about the more engrossing than expected challenges to the bond between best friends Marty and Frankie, but also the Barra Best airport lounge itself, where the colour and buzz are provided less by the aesthetic and more by the people who populate it.
For Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas does read as a case of Are Yule Being Served?'s commentary on hospitality being subtly adapted for public transport and travel, an observation that the planes (and trains, and automobiles) that the passenger depends on to reach their destination are driven and operated by people too, and that there are times when one will have to come to terms with their needs not being met in quite the way they would have liked. It fits with the show's main theme of what are perceived to be the best form of expectations, which may include those often taken for granted, becoming the best sort of epiphanies, which can encourage people to really consider themselves and their surroundings. And it's all topped off with a Father Ted-esque "Three Elvises" routine - a chance for the characters to face the music they love and for the audience to thank them for it, the songs they've been singing and the ultimate joy they've been bringing.
Simon Fallaha
Elvis Yourself A Merry Little Christmas runs upstairs at The MAC, Belfast, until Tuesday December 31. For more information, and tickets, click here.