Treasured Holiday Memories

by Frank Furnari, New Rep Reviewer 

Holiday Memories presents us with two, somewhat autobiographical glimpses at Truman Capote's childhood, offering an entertaining evening of holiday fare.  The evening is broken up into two acts, the first is "The Thanksgiving Visitor" where we see Buddy/Truman as a boy around 7, who doesn't fit in with the other children and his best friend is Sook, a relative in her 60s.  While Buddy does not have many friends his age, the town bully torments him frequently.  One Thanksgiving, Sook takes it upon herself to invite the bully over for Thanksgiving dinner and what transpires over dinner is not what you might expect.  The second half is "A Christmas Memory" where we again see Buddy and Sook, but now it is fruitcake weather, Sook's annual tradition of making fruitcakes for many people including the President.  The process of getting and paying for the ingredients as well as the interactions between the two are very touching.  

The stage version by Russell Vandenbrouke has both the young Buddy (Michael John Ciszewski) and older Truman (Marc Carver) on stage at the same time.  Truman serves both as the older Buddy as well as the narrator, however since the play centers around the young Buddy, the character of Truman doesn't add much to the story – one expects Truman to have a few scenes as an adult, but other than a brief moment we don't get that.  Aside from that, it is a well-written and engaging play.  Adrianne Krstansky is wonderful as Sook; she embodies the shy, childlike nature of Sook without making her into a caricature.  Michael John Ciszewski, a sophomore at BU, is great as Buddy imbuing the role with the sensitivity and a childlike -yet wise beyond his years quality and expression.   

The set designed by Jon Savage was an intricate work of art itself.  The house gives the sense of a family who doesn’t have much money, but is resourceful - taking items from a variety of places and repurposing them.  It was very cool to see the way things would just flip out from the wall to reveal a bed or a shelf of fruitcakes.  Behind the house was a scrim with an area for actors (which wasn't always used effectively).  Behind that was a screen where additional scenery was projected (schoolhouse, kitchen) which gave the production a storybook feel with the images used, adding memory/storybook feel.  

Holiday Memories is not your typical holiday fare, but that's a good thing for those who may not want to see Christmas Carol yet again.  It is a look back at holidays of years past, but not through rose-colored glasses.  While not sugar coating the memories, it is still very enjoyable and may even make you feel nostalgic about your own holiday memories.