Theatre review: Sleigh!, Basement Theatre

Alice Canton, Rhiannon McCall, Donna Brookbanks and Brynley Stent. Photo / Supplied.

The last two years have felt incredibly long for many of us. We’ve had Covid, closed borders, a lack of international travel, as well as protests to endure and the cost of everything going through the roof.

But I’m not talking about any of that here. All that would have been far more bearable if we hadn’t missed out on the Basement Theatre’s Christmas show last year.

The annual tradition is probably the only holiday tradition I truly celebrate, and 2020′s show was probably the peak for the long-running celebration, with the Le Basement XXX Christmas Show a bonafide musical hit complete with the lewdest script you’ve ever seen.

After a pandemic-induced delay and that lasting high to remember, the return this year had high expectations to meet - and mercifully, this year’s offering, Sleigh!, does not disappoint.

Some of the rotating cast for Sleigh during pre-production. Photo / Andi Crown.

The fully improvised show from troupe The Heartbreakers, responsible for Fringe parody hits Lust Island and McKenzie’s Daughters, is set at a mall on Christmas Eve. Asides from a rough outline involving a missing mall Santa that allows the traditional celebrity cameo to fit in, everything else from plot, characters and the stores featured changes with the cast each night.

Improv by its nature can be a bit hit and miss depending on the prompts given and how the storylines unfold, but the talented and unquestionably hilarious cast on the opening night - The opening night cast - Brynley Stent, Rhiannon McCall, Janaye Henry, Donna Brookbanks, Lana Walters and Catherine Yates - conjured up three distinct plotlines that evolved so naturally and effortlessly you would think they were scripted, with more jokes per minute than most shows can manage with months of preparation.

Brookbanks was a standout thanks to her committed put-upon grandmother character, and Walters gave a men’s right activist trolley boy that turned into the most intricate and emotive storyline opposite McCall. One storyline also concluded with a sword-wielding Pagani employee laying siege to Glassons which the exact level of ridiculousness you want from a Basement Christmas show.

Given the show’s setting, fitting in the traditional celebrity cameo was always going to be a slight stretch, and despite some stellar work from Shortland Street’s Marianne Infante in the role of a last minute Santa replacement, the integration this year did feel forced compared to the more natural storylines around it. However, an indisputable highlight of the night was a guessing game that saw Infante try and guess the niche offerings the audience had suggested - while it dragged in some moments, the eventual payoff earned the biggest cheer of the night.

So while you won’t know what show you are getting until you are firmly seated, you can trust that this trusted institution and the talented cast rotating through December will have enough festive delights to see you through the silly season.

What: Sleigh!

Where: Basement Theatre, until December 23rd