Photo by Brenham Portrait Gallery
Welcome to the fictional town of Tuna, the self-proclaimed third-smallest town in Texas. Christmas is coming right up, and so is Tuna’s annual Christmas Yard Display Contest. But, between the strange and mysterious “Christmas Phantom” disrupting the competition and vandalizing people’s yards and Tuna’s resident director Joe Bob Lipsey’s struggle to put on the play, “A Christmas Carol,” the holidays are shaping up to be not so jolly.
“A Tuna Christmas” was originally directed by Ed Howard and performed by Jaston Williams and Joe Sears, who wrote the show, and it instantly became a holiday classic. It’s a hysterical collection of stories and vignettes about the Southern-style denizens of Tuna, according to Unity Theatre’s executive artistic director Kate Revnell-Smith. When deciding what to pick for this year’s holiday production, Revnell-Smith remembered how huge of a success “A Tuna Christmas” was when the theater performed it in 2012. “I figured that people don’t want to go to the theatre and cry, right?” Revnell-Smith says. “No, they want to go and laugh, and have a good time.”
The cast consists of only two men who perform over 20 different characters of all genders, ages, and professions. For example, one character will leave through one door as a gruff police officer and come back seconds later as a diner waitress, Revnell-Smith says. “Watching them with their quick changes is phenomenal.”
Revnell-Smith has worked with the Unity Theatre since 2001 as both an actress and director. When there was a turnover in spring of 2011, the then-executive artistic director resigned and the person who took over passed away, Revnell-Smith says.
“I knew all of these people, of course, so I just called and asked if there was anything I could do to help,” she says. “Well, here I sit, 10 1/2 years later.”
As the executive artistic director, Revnell-Smith is in charge of not only the programming and live theater arrangements but also the finances and administration that comes with running a theater, she explains. “What I love is that I get a balance of both, that it’s not all creative, and I can use the other side of my brain as well.”
Arts organizations have been some of the hardest hit groups during the pandemic, Revnell-Smith says. “During this kind of time, even if you can’t support financially by donating or buying a subscription to a local theater, then support by lending your time and your energy as a volunteer,” Revnell-Smith says. “Even professional theaters, like ours, rely heavily on volunteers, and your time and energy is a great support.” IN
A preview night of “A Tuna Christmas” will take place on Thursday, Dec. 2; tickets are $19. Regular performances will be from Dec. 2-19 on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $27 for adults and $15 for students. For more information, visit unitybrenham.org.
