Opening Friday Is TheatreWorks New Milford’s
Outrageous Holiday Comedy, Season’s Greetings!

It’s been said that holiday get-togethers are fertile grounds for chaos, misbehavior, drunkenness, lechery, gluttony and family feuds. So why does the human race embrace these parties with such relish?

You may not find an answer in Alan Ayckbourn's 1980 farce, Season's Greetings, which takes place over the Christmas holidays, but you're sure to recognize much of what goes on when the boughs of folly are over the mantle. – Danbury News-Times

How would you like to engage in some “misbehavior, gluttony, and drunkenness” (if you’re not driving), this Friday night for the opening of Season’s Greetings?

If the answer is resounding “yes,” please join us this Friday, December 4th, at 8 p.m. Because opening night at TheatreWorks means – as always – a night of FREE champagne and hors d’oeuvres for everyone in attendance – exclusively for opening night theatergoers. It’s one of the many ways we try to say “thank you” to all our wonderful patrons.

Now, more about the show: As the play opens, Belinda and Neville Bunker (Tracy Hurd and Viv Berger) are preparing to welcome a host of friends and relatives into their quaint English home for the Holidays. Neville has forgotten to buy his wife a gift. Uncle Harvey sits glued to the TV watching a marathon of action films. Neville’s friend Eddie and his wife are at each others throats. And Dr. Bernard rehearses an unintentionally hysterical puppet show while his wife Phyllis gets sloshed on the cooking wine. It’s all pretty “normal” until Belinda’s sister Rachel invites her friend Clive to the home – and then things really start to go awry.

“Unlike most Holiday productions, Season’s Greetings doesn’t just focus on the joy this time of year brings. It takes a refreshing look at the petty squabbles and problems that afflict families and relationships in a hilarious and light-hearted way,” said director and set designer Glenn R. Couture. “It’s rare in a Holiday production where an audience can watch and say, ‘Oh, I know these people,’ while at the same time thinking ‘Thank God my family isn’t this crazy.’ So the end result is you simply have to laugh, and I’m pretty confident theatergoers will.”

“The situation starts out pretty conventionally…then quickly disintegrates into ridiculous miscommunications, slapstick drunkenness, domestic arguments, and antic violence,” said producer and TheatreWorks President Richard Pettibone. “The full house creates a claustrophobic recipe for fun, frivolity, and festive sexual tension – all with Ayckbourn’s trademark acerbic dialogue and wit.”

The cast also features: Nicholas Pollifrone, Matt McQuail, Ali Bernhardt, Janice Connor, Phil Cook, Tom Libonate, and Mikki Harkin.

The crew also includes assistant director Rob Onorato, technical director Scott Wyshynski, costume mistress Renee C. Purdy, and stage management by Alexis Ortiz.

The New York Times said, “Season’s Greetings…reminds us that Mr. Ayckbourn can rise above efficient craftsmanship to the full height of his artistic ambitions.”

Season’s Greetings Featured Actor Nicholas Pollifrone

Like most of the Season’s Greetings cast, Nicholas “Nick” Pollifrone of Naugatuck is making his debut on the TheatreWorks stage, and we’re extremely excited about his coming on board. We believe you will be too, once you see him. Nick portrays Clive, the only “outsider” in this dysfunctional family setting, who must witness first-hand just how out-of-control the Bunker family and their friends are.

“Clive is very reactionary. Most of the time he is responding to the other characters in the play, whether it be through first introductions or what can be one-sided conversations,” Nick said. “In that respect, what happens to Clive is the result of something else. So, because of that, I've really had to listen to my fellow actors, which can be a hard lesson to learn in acting.”

Most recently, Nick attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, England, where he was trained in Shakespearean acting. While there, he also performed the role of Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice as adapted by Nona Shepherd. Nick’s local theatre credits include the roles of Ty in Sordid Lives, Harry Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life, and Billy in The Goat: Or Who Is Sylvia? among others.

“But Season's Greetings stands apart for me because of how realistic the dialogue and timing of the play can be,” Nick added. “Granted, the storyline is rather exaggerated, but Ayckbourn has really captured the way things happen simultaneously, a skill not many playwrights have the ability to do. After all, the constant flow of motion very much reflects everyday life. So, where we’ve had to adjust as actors is to make each segment fit around the other to simulate the ongoing lives of the characters.

“Let me add that audiences will love the strong comedy that Season’s Greetings provides. The characters are very relatable, despite how over-the-top they may seem, and I'm sure that nearly every audience member can identify one or more of their own family members within the play. I also feel audiences will embrace the overall mood that the play sets. Though chaotic, there is still a genuine feel of the Holidays and tradition at the Bunkers’ home, something we all look for this time of year.”

Let us add that you’ll take great comfort in seeing a family at the Holidays that is perhaps 10-times more dysfunctional than your own (we hope). So please catch the talented Nick Pollifrone in his TheatreWorks debut. We’re confident you’ll leave talking about his stand-out performance – and those of the rest of this cast as well!

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