←Recommendations of Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

I know from experience how desperate a parent can get when attempting to establish a tradition for their child. This sweet and bittersweet examination of tradition vs. trend is a brilliant summation of modern life.

Like a good chestnut, this play is hard on the outside but has a soft centre, especially when roasted. Maybe Lily is trying to bring in a new tradition, or maybe just over tired, as dad does his best to lighten the mood. One thing for sure this little mite has been born into a lovely family. Sweet.

When do family traditions and exhortations from an old song become a burden that must be borne year after year while their meaning is fading away like snow turning to slush? Lily is trying so hard to get those stupid chestnuts to roast and still put up with the pressure of the season as if it was some cult ritual, all the while Joe is doing his best to keep the season bright. But at some point... Lainie Vansant's take on the holiday is a fun and cautionary tale. Ho ho ho!

There is a lot of pressure on moms in the age of social media, especially at Christmastime. At a certain point, are you doing it for the kid or for the engagement? This play does a great job illustrating the fact that holiday magic is not, in fact, magic - that "magic" has a cost, and it's usually mom's sanity. I love the way things escalate in this play, with the online "hacks" growing more perverse, and the button at the end had me giggling! A packed little holiday short!

Whether you’re starting a cult or celebrating the formation of a new family, we humans will go to amazing lengths in the name of creating new traditions. Vansant’s short is humorous, as well as tender, making for a most insightful read.

I admire that it's hard to "peg" this play, and Vansant plays both sides of the coin (comedy AND horror) very well here. A Christmas piece that could warm your heart or creep you the F out. Your choice, I suppose, but very well done by Vansant in the writing!

Stage direction: "Things are starting to look vaguely cult-ish." Yup. When you push "traditions" so hard, they lose their magic and start to look like you're trying to summon the "holiday cheer demon" or something. Very relatable and audiences will laugh with recognition of loved ones, or even themselves in this story.

Interesting comedic short that plays into the stress of creating the perfect first Christmas for a newborn child. Sweet, relatable and funny.

Here's a fun, short play that comically underscores the importance to so many people of establishing family traditions at holiday time. As these young parents try to create meaningful first holiday memories for their infant son, they fumble and bumble until they finally create magic.

01.03.26 - Nothing beats the angst of trying to achieve perfection during a holiday. Add in a crying child, bad advice from the internet and differing ideas of what perfection entails, and you've got a charming little corker of a play. But now I really want to know, when will those damned chestnuts pop open?