Review: A Poignant Memoir Takes the Stage with HOLIDAY MEMORIES at Avant Bard

Perhaps you are going through an old jewel box or family trunk. You come upon a faded photo or a tarnished cameo containing a portrait of relative from long ago. Like a magic talisman, the memento transports you into another time, one of simple joys and bittersweet memories. Such were the feelings that rushed over me as I watched the Avant Bard production of Truman Capote's HOLIDAY MEMORIES.

Like a sepia-toned photo from the pages of a family album, WSC Avant Bard's HOLIDAY MEMORIES evokes seasonal joys untouched by commercialism and cynicism - two mortal enemies of the true spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas, in my opinion. Taken from two personal short stories by the iconoclastic author Truman Capote, this stage adaptation deserves to become an annual tradition.

Let's start with leading actor Christopher Henley. Henley effortlessly inhabits the persona of Capote, the author as narrator and omniscient participant. Not an impersonation of Capote's drawling, purr of a voice or fey demeanor, Henley captures the gentility and nobility of the famous writer, weaving a potent spell that draws in the listener. Costume designer Danielle Preston places a dapper, cream colored suit and Panama hat on Henley which helps complete the picture.

As Capote looks back at his seven year old self - played with sensitivity by adult actor Séamus Miller - Henley and Miller share the storytelling duties. Adapted for the stage by Russell Vandenbroucke, Capote's short stories are presented in a style similar to OUR TOWN, in which the narrators address the audience directly and props are kept to a minimum, allowing the audience to fill-in the gaps with their own imagination. The stylized presentation, as skillfully directed by Tom Prewitt, allows the simplicity of the story to shine through and move along briskly over the two acts.

The first half is based on "A Thanksgiving Visitor," in which the local bully is invited to the family's November feast. Young Capote, tortured by loutish teenager Odd Henderson, is surprised when his closest relative and best friend, the simple spinster Miss Sook invites the brute to share Thanksgiving with the family. Miss Sook, almost as child-like as her seven-year old friend, looks at the world in her own, unique manner. Referring to the young Truman as Buddy, after a long-dead friend, insists on extending the invitation, "because we only have so little time on this earth." Buddy and Miss Sook share secrets and just about every aspect of their lives. Sook - brought to life memorably by Charlotte Akin - serves as a mother, big sister, and backwoods Auntie Mame for the lonely Buddy, whose dysfunctional parents were but ciphers in his young life.

Act two of HOLIDAY MEMORIES is taken from the more famous Capote story "A Christmas Memory," which I remember fondly as a short story I read long ago for school. Was Christmas ever so simple? Perhaps or perhaps not, but for Capote, the memorable holiday spent in rural Alabama in the 1930s provided the fodder for a touching tale of friendship and love. Making fruitcakes and handmade presents, decorating the Christmas tree with baubles and streams of cotton from the fields outside has never looked so appealing. When Buddy and Miss Sook exchange presents and end up giving each other the same gift - home-made kites -tears well up and the heart sings just a little.

The sterling direction and acting in HOLIDAY MEMORIES is enhanced by the impressionistic scenic and lighting design by Colin Dieck. Executed in muted tones, with fragmented borders, the set evokes the dreamlike quality of memory, complete with creaky floorboards and dusty rugs.

By the end, the adult Capote can look back at his time with Miss Sook with a mixture of nostalgia and heartache. No matter where his travels take him or what his experiences with an array famous (and infamous) acquaintances offer him, Truman says, "Home is where my friend is."

I suggest you grab someone you love and come to Theatre on the Run for HOLIDAY MEMORIES and discover a new Christmas classic.

Follow Jeffrey Walker on Twitter @jeffwalker66

WSC Avant Bard's HOLIDAY MEMORIES continues through December 20, 2015 at Theatre on the Run, 3700 South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington, VA 22206. For information or tickets, go to AvantBard.Ticketleap.com or call 703.418.4808.

PHOTO CREDIT: D.J. Corey Photography

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