"A Klingon Christmas Carol" puts twist on holiday favorite

Photo by Anne Petersen

Those who bring a non-perishable food item to the 8 p.m. Dec. 2 performance of Commedia Beauregard's "A Klingon Christmas Carol" will receive discounted admission to the show.

Commedia Beauregard's annual “Pay With Your Can” performance gives audience members discounted admission in exchange for non-perishable food items to be donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Bring one food item to receive a $10 off discount, or receive free admission by bringing three or more food items.

The discounted tickets are first come first serve at the door. 

"A Klingon Christmas Carol" is the translation of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale into the language and culture of the famous warrior aliens of "Star Trek," the Klingons.

 

Now in its fourth year in Chicago, "A Klingon Christmas Carol" is the first full-length play ever to be performed entirely in the actual Klingon language. English subtitles are projected above the stage.

This year's production features several changes.

“We’ve been doing this show for seven years,”  said Christopher Kidder-Mostrom, Commedia Beauregard’s artistic director, in a press release. “We thought this year was the perfect time to make some major changes.”
 

Kidder-Mostrom, the creator of the show, has returned to the helm of the production. In an effort to make things different than ever before, though, very few of the cast from the past few years have come back with him.
 

“We’ve made almost everything new,” Kidder-Mostrom said. “There’s a completely new cast. To be fair, there are four veterans in the show, but they’re all in new roles.”

No actor was allowed to return to the cast in a role they’d had before. That means that this year there’s a new SQuja’ (Scrooge).
 

There are also new costumes by kClare Kemock, who designed for Commedia Beauregard’s Bard Fiction in 2012. She is once again doing a mash-up style of costuming that combines the world of alien warriors with the frock coats of Victorian England.
 

"A Klingon Christmas Carol" runs through Dec. 29. More information is available by going to www.CBTheatre.org.