CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED

A warped winter’s tale of cancel culture

11th -14th, 17th -19th, 22nd -24th December 2023, at 7pm (6pm Sundays) 

Etcetera Theatre Club, 265 Camden High Street, London NW1 7BU 

 Kate Ghotti is one of the most successful TV personalities in the UK, apparently living a perfect life of wealth, success and popularity. So when she learns that an exposé article is about to be published which could destroy her career, friendships, freedom and life, she’ll stop at nothing to prevent it. 

 Christmas Is Cancelled is an exciting new play from the mind of writer/actress Tuula Costelloe, which, unusually for a fringe show, offers a multi-sensory experience, involving burlesque, a scented auditorium, temperature changes, audience interaction and even festive nibbles. The play is directed by Hector Smith, who completed his MA Text & Performance at RADA and who has previously directed at the Phoenix Theatre Melbourne (Australia), House of International Theatre Copenhagen and the Cockpit Theatre London.

Tuula reached the top 1% of the shortlist of this year's BBC Writers Room Open Call. She studied theatre at Trinity College Dublin before graduating from the New York Film Academy and has since appeared both on stage and film, as well as penning three novels. Christmas Is Cancelled, in which she appears as Kate, marks her playwriting debut.

The cast is completed by Graeme Culliton (Arthur), Lara De Belder (Aisha), Rosa French (Jane), Megan Sangster (Hana) and Anas Zabadne (Niall).

 A thought-provoking reflection on today’s cancel culture, the audience’s loyalties will be challenged at every step of Kate’s journey from decadence to desperation as she resorts to ever riskier remedies of damage limitation, which in turn expose her to dangers of a different kind. Just to add to that intrigue, Tuesday and Saturday performances will offer an alternate ending to those on other days!

 If you’re looking for a darkly bracing and contentious antidote to December’s overload of seasonal sentimentality, Christmas Is Cancelled is the play for you!