RED BARN’S SEASON OPENS WITH THE HILARIOUS “SCROOGE MACBETH”
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
Just for the fun of it, let’s imagine Charles Dickens happens to run into William Shakespeare in an out-of-the-way London pub late on a snowy Christmas Eve, and they start talking shop, and after five or six pints, they’ve drunkenly forged an outrageous idea for a new Christmas play – a little bit Charles, a little bit William, and all of it hilarious.
Well, we actually don’t have to imagine it, because with the Red Barn’s opening mainstage show of its 46th season, we get to see the kind of unprecedented madness such a collaboration might yield.
“Scrooge Macbeth,” by the award-winning playwright David MacGregor, is a fantastically funny mash-up of everything The Bard and everything The Boz. And it effortlessly manages to get us fully into the Christmas spirit and keep us there for 80 minutes. The show runs December 9 through January 3, 2026, with all curtains at 7:30 pm.
The story centers around a small community theater about to open a holiday production of Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale.” The hope is that the show will save the financially-strapped theater before bankruptcy closes the doors. But as fate would have it (so Shakespearean…), most of the cast is laid low by food poisoning (so Dickensian…) mere moments before curtain time, leaving the last four actors standing to pull some kind of holiday entertainment together on the fly for the audience that is waiting just outside the theater. What they come up with is Shakespeare running headlong into Dickens as they try to combine two iconic tales into a single production, complete with improvised turns on the best-known carols of the season.
“It’s one of the funniest plays I’ve ever been a part of,” said Barn Managing Director Mimi McDonald, who also directs the show. “It has a surprise a minute and takes advantage of the intimacy of the Barn’s space – the audience will feel they’re right in the craziness as part of the show. And I think it capitalizes on the strengths of the Red Barn – we love the off-beat, the off-kilter here, and we’re lucky to have cast some of the great comedic actors Key West has.”
The show features a host of Shakespeare characters as you’ve never seen them – imagine hearing “I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ for Christmas” sung from the point of view of Richard III. Or Ebenezer Scrooge showing up on Juliet’s balcony. Or Hamlet going Christmas shopping. And then there are the twisted turns on the most beloved holiday carols, like the Shakespearean take on the “Twelve Days of Christmas” –
“Twelve Severed Heads!
Eleven Forest Fairies,
Ten Doomed Lovers…”
You get the idea. The fun, music, and Christmas spirit never stop, even when one of the characters – an over-the-top diva – adds a bit of drama to the proceedings by refusing to do the show until he’s allowed to play Othello, who gets pulled into a very odd and lyrical holiday Shakespeare cabaret. And yes, it’s as funny as you’d imagine it would be.
“Scrooge Macbeth” stars Key West’s Dominic Paolillo, Nina Pilar, Mathias Maloff, Cassidy Timms, and Gerri Louise Gates, all perfectly suited to play the laugh-a-minute insanity of such a tale. Costumes will be brilliantly styled by Sushi.
Broadway World called the play “…a confectionary Holiday Romp that will make you feel good.” The TBN Weekly said the play “fills the audience with holiday cheer while poking fun at the world’s most famous writers.” The Gabber called it “…a blazingly witty script.”
While the play is set for the holiday season, be aware that there will be no performances Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or New Year’s Eve. There will be a performance New Year’s Day. There will be an Opening Night Party after the performance on December 9, with all ticketholders welcome to join the cast and crew for light fare and libations.
There is no parking at the Red Barn Theatre.
For tickets to “Scrooge Macbeth” or to purchase a subscription to the entire 46th Season (and save 20%!), visit redbarntheatre.com or call the box office at 305-296-9911.
Sponsored in part by Key TV and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, and by the generous donations of our patrons.