Second City meets Charles Dickens, and the result is the rudest, most outrageous and hilarious Christmas Carolyou'll probably ever see.
The scripted show pokes zany and profane fun at the venerable Christmas classic, with Santa, baby Jesus and Dean Martin's sappy holiday songs coming in for ribbing as well. Not even the crippled Tiny Tim escape's Second City's satirical assault on the holiday season's sugary sentimentality.
Seven Second City veteran performers, led by Ron West as Ebenezer Scrooge, play a variety of roles, changing costumes and voices on the run. They also sing and dance -- execrably, of course -- on occasion. Four-letter words abound, bawdy jokes, too. Twist Your Dickens! is very definitely not a children's show.
Working on Tom Buderwitz's ingenious set, which goes back and forth in time in a twinkling, and clad in Leah Piehl's raffish costumes, Second City's cast cavorts like the Marx Brothers of yore, tearing into their assorted comic targets with glee and gusto.
