Theatre 2024: O Christmas Tea @ CAA Theatre

Over the years before he decided to retire, we have watched several of Canadian actor and comedian Ross Petty’s “Fractured Fairy Tale Musicals”, which are based on the traditional British Christmas pantomimes but with a unique spin that made these shows a beloved annual tradition in Toronto.  Following the UK tradition, Petty’s pantos were loosely based on familiar fairy tales and classic stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid or sometimes a mixture of characters from multiple tales, featured cross-dressing stock characters, and encouraged audience participation in call and response fashion including booing and hissing at the villains and cheering for the heroes which was fun for the kids.  They also included contemporary songs and mixed in jokes regarding local issues and politics that could be appreciated by the adults in the audience as well.

Therefore, when my husband Rich noticed that an acclaimed British pantomime called O Christmas Tea was making a 3-night run at the CAA Theatre in late November, we thought it would be a fun show to attend.  It turned out that this was not a traditional British pantomime, but rather a modern spin on the genre that came across as an absurdist Christmas panto.  We found it to be strange (not in a good way) and not very funny, although admittedly, humour is extremely subjective and there could have been a cultural divide that we could not span. 

The show started off with a quirky character named Jamesy who moves like a contortionist in the way that he can flex the muscles of his legs and foot.  Jamesey wants to invite his friend James (no, that is not the least bit confusing?!?) to tea and “phones” him using a teapot.  Once James arrives, it is clear that he can break the fourth wall and see the audience while initially Jamesy cannot.  As they converse, somehow Jamesy’s wild imagination causes their tea to flood the earth, taking them on a fantastical nautical journey that includes a shark, sea captain, first mate, the Queen of England and God.  These characters are played by members of the audience that are selected/dragged onto stage and asked to improvise while wearing silly costumes that were thrust upon them.  The scenes with this audience participation turned out to be the most fun because luckily, some quick-witted people were chosen and their improvisations added to the charm of the show.  Had they been duds, this could have been even worse.

Unfortunately, the rest of the show did not fare as well for many in the audience including us.  Part of the problem was that without the familiar structure of a fairy tale like Ross Petty’s pantos, we did not understand when or what we were supposed to call and respond.  The other issue was that we just didn’t find their jokes, pratfalls and slapstick schtick to be funny.  This was highlighted by one moment where James delivered a joke that landed flat.  He broke the fourth wall and addressed the audience, complaining that we did not appreciate his best joke of the night.  Just to be sure, he delivered the joke a second time—it still was not funny and no one laughed.  The silence was very awkward!  When you need to plead with the audience to laugh at your joke, there is something very wrong happening.  The best and funniest moment occurred during an acrobatic sequence early on in the show when James accidentally split open his pants.  Giggling at this unexpected development, the actor playing James adlibbed as he revealed what had happened by showing us the giant slit that exposed his underwear, then quipped with perfect timing and dramatic pause “I need to find a Tailor … Swiftly”.  Given that Taylor Swift was in Toronto for her Eras Tour that same weekend, this turned out to be the actual best joke of the night.

While there is obviously an interest and demand for this type of performance, it turns out that this modern take on the Christmas pantomime is not our cup of tea (pun intended).