Jack Frost and Family In A Cozy Space

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Pear Photography for Reconstructing Grimm

Liz Shipe and Zach Thomas Woods in JACK FROST

Local playwright/actress Liz Shpe’s Upon a Midnight Clear: A Tale of Jack Frost glides into another production this year. Previously, the holiday tale had inhabited the space at the Brumder Mansion. This year the story makes it’s way to the intimate coziness of the Soulstice Theatre’s newly-renovated home in St. Francis. Zach Thomas Woods is immensely charismatic as Jack Frost--a powerful entity who has spent some time as a mortal. He has fallen in love with a woman played by Shipe and wants to remain mortal. Of course, the magic that grants people wishes comes at a cost that Frost learns all too well over the course of the supernatural family drama that ensues. 

With its new renovation, the space at Soulstice feels every bit the studio theatre its’ always aspired to be. The space had been ever so slightly cavernous before. Now it holds everyone in the kind of proximity in which Shipe’s Jack Frost excels. Seeing it for a second time, what really strikes me is how thoughtfully-framed the whole story is. It’s easy enough for someone to bemoan that commercialism is detracting from the true meaning of Christmas. There are those of us who bemoan that Christmas itself detract from the true meaning of the holiday as it has pre-christian roots that go back quite further to something more potent than the traditional nativity story. Shipe’s script grabs hold of a meaning delicately etched into the heart of winter that doesn’t alienate anyone. It’s a Christmas story that goes way beyond those things that so often limit Christmas stories. 

Much of the ensemble remains intact from the Brumder cast. This benefits the dynamic immeasurably. These characters have known each other for thousands of years. It’s difficult to imagine how people relate to each other, but there’s going to be a kind of intimacy there that’s difficult to deliver. There’s a kind of familiarity that actors gain over time that can deliver some of this intimacy. It’s fun to watch. This time around talented actress Grace DeWolff directs the show. I found myself trying to guess at parts that she might have been working on--conversations she might have had with members of the ensemble. My second time seeing this show, I’m particularly impressed with how things have progressed between Blewett and Woods. Old Man Winter and Jack Frost are brothers. Blewett feels kind of counter-cast. He’s got a youthful voice and appearance. He appears to be younger than Woods even though he’s supposed to be his older brother, but the two actors seem to have worked on developing Blewett’s authority and it feels much more intricate and interesting than it had the first time I saw it. Alicia Rice is new to the role of Katrina--the sweetly sinister face of a newly-envisioned Krampus who is the chief antagonist here. She’s good as a villain. There’s beauty and malice in her performance in equal parts. She’s a monster, but she never plays to it like she’s animated by the fairy tale of evil motivated only by evil. There’s reason behind her actions and Rice builds an interesting character out of that reason. 

With Jack Frost, Shipe tells a traditional tale of a kind of supernatural family gathering during the darkest points of the year. It’s both very traditional and very progressive. Shipe has found a new format for an old story that is every bit as traditional as those tales that have become weak with cliche. The love between Jack and his mortal paramour is delicately rendered for the stage by Shipe and Woods. In the course of a very pleasantly comic drama, we the entities who are Jack’s family: Bill Jackson once again cuts a powerful figure as a very lean and authoritative Father Christmas. Hugh Blewett is dashing as a very young-looking old man winter who refuses to live up to the name he’s been saddled with. Bryan Quinn also plays a character far more familiar to most than they probably expect. He’s a great deal of fun here and his character’s presence explains certain peculiarities onstage. Why not have an oven in a wooden chest? Think about it in the context of Quinn’s character and there are a lot of little details about the story and the production that make a lot of sense. 

Soulstice Theatre’s production of Upon a Midnight Clear: A Tale of Jack Frost runs through Dec. 19 at Soulstice’s space on 3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave. For more information, visit SOulstice online.