{"id":18645,"date":"2019-11-20T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=18645"},"modified":"2023-11-08T11:19:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T19:19:26","slug":"o-christmas-tea-performers-say-its-all-about-connection-and-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2019\/11\/20\/o-christmas-tea-performers-say-its-all-about-connection-and-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"O Christmas Tea<\/em> performers say it\u2019s all about connection and magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Vancouver-based comedians\/actors\/writers Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles\u2014who go by the stage names James and Jamesy\u2014 there\u2019s always time for tea. Their show O Christmas Tea<\/i> uses traditional Monty Python-era British comedy, but it also breaks down the fourth wall, bringing performers and audience together.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part of what sets us apart from traditional British comedy and slapstick, and physical comedy in general, is the way that the audience feels during the experience,\u201d says Malkin. \u201cPeople find themselves compelled to participate, and to play with us. We give them opportunities to step into participating in the show\u2014very low-stakes invitations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The audience involvement in this show is unique, says Malkin, because the laugh doesn\u2019t come from the awkwardness that often stems from an audience member having to do something during a performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles, also known as James and Jamesy (photo by Thaddeus Hink).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPeople get on board with the sprit of play that is driving the show and choose to play with us, and they leave with this elation of spirit, like they\u2019ve discovered a new version of themselves,\u201d says Malkin. \u201cThere\u2019s a new energy and life and excitement in that; the audience gets to experience that through the audience members that choose to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

And past all the zany humour in the act, there\u2019s a yearning for inner peace lurking inside at least one of the actors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least in my life,\u201d says Knowles, \u201cthere\u2019s a desire for a sense of groundedness, of neutrality, from this place of, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ve got everything taken care of in my life, I have no worries. There\u2019s nothing wrong. Everything is simple.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s from this place of simplicity that adventures or action can happen, says Malkin. And that\u2019s how tea gets circled back in to the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeatime is that time in British culture. You see pictures of men in the Second World War in all their battle gear, on the battlefield, just having their tea,\u201d says Knowles. \u201cThey\u2019re taking that time to just ground out… to just be present with each other, with themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the name suggests, one of the central props in the play is a teapot. There are other holiday drinks that could have filled up the cup, but none of them quite compete with a cup of tea. Other drinks often associated with Christmas shows\u2014eggnog, for example\u2014have more expectations associated with them, says Knowles. He says that\u2019s where the imagination in the show\u2014which the two wrote\u2014stems from.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heart of the show is about cultivating this relationship we have with the audience, this idea that we\u2019re all playing a game together,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re all playing the game of theatre, playing the game of make believe. As we do in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depending on how literal a person wants to get with the Christmas story, says Knowles, there\u2019s a lot of mysticism and magic around things people attribute to Christmas: Santa Claus, presents, The Elf on the Shelf<\/i>, snowmen coming alive\u2014things that are marketed for children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s really also an excuse for adults to play,\u201d says Knowles. \u201cAnd our show is an exercise in that, an open invitation for those that attend the show to feel that magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malkin says that audiences are thirsty for unconditional love, and they\u2019ll get that in this show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething I think other audiences have enjoyed about what we do is they sense a love between the two characters, a love that doesn\u2019t have an agenda,\u201d he says. \u201cI think we\u2019re thirsty for that representation on stage, and in life, of two people willing to be vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

O Christmas Tea
\n<\/i>3 pm and 7:30 pm Sunday, December 8
\n$19.50 student tickets,
\nRoyal Theatre
\nrmts.bc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Vancouver-based comedians\/actors\/writers Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles\u2014who go by the stage names James and Jamesy\u2014 there\u2019s always time for tea. Their show O Christmas Tea uses traditional Monty Python-era British comedy, but it also breaks down the fourth wall, bringing performers and audience together. \u201cA big part of what sets us apart from traditional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,244],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-november-20-2019"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24605,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18645\/revisions\/24605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}