tRUMPELSTILTSKIN, It's a Wonderful Life, and Disco Pigs starring Evanna Lynch! Merry Christmas!

tRUMPELSTILTSKIN at An Beal Bocht, Riverdale

THE Bronx-based, Irish-run Poor Mouth Theatre Company will present their provocatively titled holiday pantomime tRUMPELSTILTSKIN this week starting Thursday, December 14 at An Beal Bocht Cafe in Riverdale, the Bronx.

Expect a classic Irish panto with sing songs, comedy sequences and more than a bit of topical satire as well as mandatory audience participation (don't worry, they won't mortify you too much).

Just sit back and cheer for the plucky heroes and boo at the nasty villains and be sure bring the kids of all ages because trust us, adults and children will find plenty to laugh at here.

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If you don't remember the original Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale this pantomime is based on it doesn't matter.  Suffice to say that a poor miller's daughter is forced to substantiate her braggart father's claims that she can spin old straw into fine gold. “Prove it,” says the king.

An Beal Bocht, Riverdale.

An Beal Bocht, Riverdale.

Soon the question becomes, who can save the miller’s daughter? And at what cost?

There are big laughs for adults as well as kids in this rollicking show (take heart snowflakes, there is no pointed political content in the show except maybe the fun they have with The Donald's signature look and speech patterns, they promise.)

Written and directed by Scott Kennedy with music direction by Kathryn Donnelly and Suzanne Hockstein, the seasonal panto features Corinne Delaney, Aoife Williamson, Aaron Souza, Michelle Hendee, Suzanne Hockstein, Kathryn Donnelly and Caitlin Seward. Run time is about one hour.

tRUMPELSTILTSKIN begins Thursday, December 14, then plays Saturday December, 16 (with two shows at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.) and Sunday 17 at 2 p.m.  

It's a Wonderful Life at The Irish Rep

It's a Wonderful Life at The Irish Rep.

It's a Wonderful Life at The Irish Rep.

THE Irish Repertory Theatre in New York is now presenting It's a Wonderful Life, the classic tale of one life changing Yuletide in Bedford Falls adapted by Anthony Palermo and directed by the theater’s award winning artistic director Charlotte Moore.

Christmas Eve, 1946 seems like a long way away nowadays, but after a few words from affable hero George Bailey, the nicest guy in town, we'll be rooting for him to get out his terrible predicament.

Contemplating suicide on the town bridge, George is unexpectedly waylaid by Clarence, his own personal guardian angel, who needs to save the young man to earn his wings. Clarence shows George what Bedford Falls (and America, frankly) would look like if he had never been born.

In a season where Pottersville seems to have renamed not just a town but the nation, how nice to reflect on a feel-good story where the good guys win and the world is finally set to rights.

Go along to rekindle your own Christmas spirit and maybe light the way for others. Moore's production is set in a radio station in the 1940s, with six actors portraying 25 unforgettable characters. See it for that alone.

The Irish Rep is located at 132 West 22nd Street, and the show will run through December 31. Tickets are on sale now through Irish Rep’s box office at 212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

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Disco Pigs at the Irish Rep

EVANNA Lynch, 26, played Luna Lovegood, the kooky but fiercely loyal young witch in the beloved Harry Potter series, cementing her world fame before she hit 20. Now's she's coming to New York in the 20th anniversary staging of Irish playwright Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs, after the show enjoyed a critically-acclaimed run at London’s Trafalgar Studios in the summer of 2017.

Lynch co-stars with Colin Campbell (Dublin by Lamplight, Through a Glass Darkly) and both actors will make their U.S. stage debuts at the Rep in January.

Disco Pigs follows a star crossed couple, both born at the same time on the same day in the same hospital and inseparable ever since. We discover that they speak in their own language and that they are disappearing into an imaginary world they have created for themselves in which the boundaries are blurring between truth and illusion.

In the beginning they are a danger only to each other, until their 17th birthday that is, when they discover as night falls and the drink take hold, that they are spiraling violently out of control.

Disco Pigs will run from January 5 through February 18 at the Irish Rep. Visit www.irishrep.org.