"Holidate," which opens Friday at Yellow Tree Theatre, began with a little white lie. Or a maybe a little red-and-green lie.
"Thomasina [Petrus] always pulls me into things," said Austene Van, artistic director of Yellow Tree. "She told Richard Cook at Park Square we had a play we wanted to do. And we did not have a play. So she told me that she told Richard that I'd write a play, with the seed of an idea of holiday traditions that are shared or are disparate, and that people can appreciate different cultures."
They titled the show "Hot Chocolate," but it's now called "Holidate." It's about a couple, played by Jennifer Grimm and Julius Collins, bringing their families to celebrate the holidays together for the first time. In addition to the regular stresses of the season, they're also worried about whether their cultures and traditions will blend. And there's the possibility of a marriage proposal, to add extra nutmeg to the eggnog.
As Van prepared the show, we presented her with six holiday questions.
Q: Are you a big Christmas person?
A: I am. I would love people to be generous all year long, but if the holidays are reasons for people to be generous of spirit, I'll take it. I love the joy of the season and the sense of possibility. When it's dark and cold and wintry, there needs to be some extra joy in the world.
Q: It just wouldn't be Christmas without …
A: Loved ones. My partner and my best friends, T. Mychael, Jamecia and Andre and Thomasina and Regina and Aimee and Jeff Bailey.
