Season 2021-22

All I Want For Christmas

Written and directed by Rebecca Northan

After a long intermission, theatre is back with a comedy just right for the moment. A Christmas story full of slapstick humour and hilarious heart, suitable for ages 12 and up.

Nov 16 – Dec 5, 2021

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80 minutes
“spectacular sequences of slapstick”
Jim Burke, Montreal Gazette
“Absolutely delightful! High energy , hilarious high jinx, fast paced comedy, very energetic cast, creative stage setting. The entire cast was fabulous.”
Centaur Patron
“Absolutely excellent! Timely, well written and very well acted by all 3 actors”
Centaur Patron
“It all works at the level of a highly strung cartoon”
Jim Burke, Montreal Gazette
“comedy full of crazy chaos and a jolly serving of holiday joy.”
Yolande Ramsay, Curtains Up

About the show

Being an elf isn’t easy. Ginger is the only elf in North Pole history to have been fired from every job she’s tried. When Santa’s mailroom needs a last-minute replacement on December 23rd, Ginger’s sibling, the fastidious Nog, pulls some strings to get her the new position. All she has to do is open letters and run the switchboard – what could possibly go wrong?

How do we deal with pressures that we may feel from our families, especially during the holidays? With humour, heart and lots of laughter.

Talk Backs after the show are scheduled for Thursday November 25 & Sunday November 28.

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Cast

A black woman, with dark brown curly hair blowing in the wind and in a cream coloured suit, stares at the camera with intent. She is strong and feels powerful. All while her eyes smile with pride and joy.
Mariah Inger
Marge
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A black woman, with dark brown curly hair blowing in the wind and in a cream coloured suit, stares at the camera with intent. She is strong and feels powerful. All while her eyes smile with pride and joy.

Mariah Inger

Mariah Inger has been acting for over 25+ years. She works in theatre, film/TV, voice, video games (performance capture) and radio. She is grateful to have had the chance to work with some of the best in the business, both in front and behind the camera.

She is also a director, producer, content creator, the VP of Black Wealth Media, a teacher and mentor to emerging marginalized artists, and the Co-coordinator of Black Theatre Workshop’s AMP(Artist Mentorship Program). She is a member of multiple committees- helping to implement better diversity/inclusion policies throughout the industry- such as Vice Chair of the current Montreal ACTRA – DEIB Committee (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging).

“I hope to continue to shed light on those that have been cloaked in darkness for far too long. May all art and creators shine equally one day…”

Film/TV credits include: Recurring role of Rhoda on CTV’s/NBC’s Transplant, Home, Seasoned with Love, Skal, 19-2, The Art of More, Fatal Vows, Broken Trust, The Bold Type. Theatre acting & directing: L’Histoire du Soldat (English version),  Rejoindre les Étoiles, Black Is the Warmest Color, LSDFH, The WestWoods, Under the Influence, and Black Media.

A picture of Gabe Maharjan looking into the camera, with dark long curly hair, olive skin and red lip, standing wearing a blue flowy V-neck and black pants with hands in pockets.
Gabe Maharjan
Nog
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A picture of Gabe Maharjan looking into the camera, with dark long curly hair, olive skin and red lip, standing wearing a blue flowy V-neck and black pants with hands in pockets.

Gabe Maharjan

After spending this long year working digitally and in person across the country, Gabe’s thrilled to be returning to the Centaur stage. As a co-founder of bigT collective, Gabe creates socially engaged work centering trans/GNC narratives; they have focused on community advocacy and currently serve as co-president of Quebec Drama Federation’s board of directors.

Stage credits include Theaturtle’s touring solo-show Alphonse in the Park, Sermo Scomber’s award-winning bouffon clown show Don’t Read the Comments, and Cabal’s fully immersive La Somnambule (META nominated – Outstanding Lead Performance). You can catch them in Mattias Graham’s new film, Bleach, and their voice can be heard on Netflix and Ubisoft projects.

Gabe co-created E-TRANSFERS as part of the Buddies ECU; their play, Eva in Rio, was shortlisted for the 2020 PGC Emerging Playwright Award; and they recently published Our Tree as part of Centaur/Boca del Lupo’s P2P@H series. This spring, Geordie Theatre will be premiering Gabe’s adaptation of Kai Cheng Thom’s popular Canadian children’s book From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea.

gabemaharjan.com/@babemaharjan

Amelia has blond hair and wears a red shirt. She is seated on a white wooden chair and looks out at you with a small grin, perhaps a bit impishly.
Amelia Sargisson
Ginger
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Amelia has blond hair and wears a red shirt. She is seated on a white wooden chair and looks out at you with a small grin, perhaps a bit impishly.

Amelia Sargisson

Amelia is a theatre monster born and raised in Montréal. She’s delighted to be back at Centaur, where she made her professional acting début at 14 and appeared most recently as Eve in Paradise Lost. She’s performed on stages and in festivals across the country including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre, SummerWorks, Crow’s Theatre, Talk Is Free Theatre, Carousel Players, Usine C, Porte Parole, CORPUS, Imago Theatre, Talisman Theatre, and Repercussion Theatre, with whom she recently co-created and toured Summer of Sonnets. 

Recent TV credits include: See (Apple TV+/Anders Egstrom) and Murdoch Mysteries (CBC/Sharon Lewis). Amelia has narrated several audiobooks for Penguin Random House, and is currently writing two new plays: Bloodshot and Fer Shame.

Creative Team

Rebecca Northan - Playwright & Director
James Lavoie - Set & Costume Designer
Andrea Lundy - Lighting Designer
Bruce Horak - Sound Designer
Robert Montcalm - Fight Director
Murdoch Schon - Assistant Director
Merissa Tordjman - Stage Manager
Luciana Burcheri - Assistant Stage Manager

More Info

All I Want for Christmas was originally commissioned in 2019 by Wesley Colford and the Highland Arts Theatre Company in Cape Breton, NS.

Video

In this trailer, Assistant Director Murdoch Schon takes you on stage to speak with Head Scenic Painter Daniel Barkley.

Content Advisory

Engaging art is surprising and provocative and sometimes the stories we tell explore sensitive yet important issues. We advise you to consult with our Box Office staff before purchasing tickets if you have concerns about themes, behaviour or language in any of our upcoming productions. We want you to safely enjoy your theatre experience.

Program

CENTAUR_CHRISTMAS_Program

Enrich your Experience

Serious Comedy

Rebecca Northan, writer and director of All I Want for Christmas, has spent her career being serious about comedy.

Centaur audiences will remember her hit show, Blind Date, from the 2019 season, but this Renaissance artist has many successes under her belt. What each of Northan’s creations has in common, whether scripted, fully improvised, or a hybrid of what she deems ‘spontaneous theatre,’ is a message of love, empathy, playfulness, and misbehaviour all wrapped in a comedic bow. Read more.

In The Gallery

Matthew Gagnon‘s art work will be on display from November 16 through December 20th, throughout the run of All I Want For Christmas. Matthew has spent years sketching people and places all around the city of Montreal, but things changed when the demolition of the Turcot interchange began.

Since then, he has spent much of his artistic career painting, illustrating and rendering the more overlooked areas of the city: underpasses, traffic jams, alleyways and garages. Using light, shadow and colour, he hopes to catch them at their most beautiful.