The 2021-2022 Mainstage Season Series at William Woods University (WWU) is back this week with the second production of the academic year, the holiday comedy “A Tuna Christmas.” This week’s stage play, about the unique Christmas activities in a tiny Texas town, will begin with the opening performance on Thursday, November 18, at Dulany Auditorium on the WWU campus.
After a full academic year in 2020-2021 of stage productions with limited audiences due to health guidelines associated with COVID-19, attendance to this year’s stage plays is now once again open to all members of the general public as well as the WWU campus community. All attendees are still required to wear face coverings at all times inside the theatre regardless of vaccination status
“A Tuna Christmas” takes place in the third smallest town in Texas, where radio station news personalities Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie report on various Yuletide activities, including the hot competition in the annual lawn-display contest. The town’s annual Christmas Yard Display Contest has been won 14 times in a row by Vera Carp, but a mysterious “Christmas Phantom,” known for vandalizing the yard displays, threatens to throw the contest into turmoil. Many colorful Tuna denizens join in the holiday fun including Stanley Bumiller’s attempts to end his probation and leave Tuna, Bertha Bumiller’s trying to hold her family together at Christmas time, and Joe Bob Lipsey’s struggle to successfully mount his production of A Christmas Carol despite numerous vexations and obstacles.
Performances for A Tuna Christmas, for which parental guidance is suggested, will take place November 18 – 20 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee showing on Saturday, November 20 at 2 p.m., all in Dulany Auditorium. Tickets for the production ($8) must be purchased using a credit or debit card at https://www.showtix4u.com. Attendees must have their purchased ticket pulled up on their phone for admittance into the theatre. All seating is now in a general admission format. Other productions still to come for the 2021-2022 academic year will be “The Bald Soprano” February 24-26, 2022, and “The Trojan Women,” April 21-23, 2022.
