A Weekend of Christmas Plays

Amazingly, there is just one weekend left until Christmas, but that’s still plenty of time to get your fill of holiday theater. Here is the pick of this weekend’s festive fare.

1. Dublin Carol. (Amaryllis Theatre Company, the Adrienne. $10.) There are about 10 versions of the Christmas Carol story onstage in the Philadelphia region this weekend. Skip them all, but see this: Irish playwright Conor McPherson is one of the best of this generation. This is his drink-singed version of the classic Christmas tale. Tickets here.

2. Merry F***ing Christmas and other short plays of holiday cheer. (SmokeyScout Productions, Quig’s Pub Stage at Play’s and Players Theatre. $10.) SmokeyScout’s Boat Hole was one of the hits of this year’s Fringe Festival. Playwright Josh McIlvain returns, this time with directing duties, with eight irreverent festive shorts acted by some of the funniest people of the Philly stage. Tickets here.

3. The Santaland Diaries. (Flashpoint Theatre Company, $18-$20.) Humor writer David Sedaris’s modern-day classic about life as an elf in Santa’s grotto. Seriously funny in previous years. Tickets here.

4. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. (Walnut Street Theatre, $10-$95.) A little bit of old-time holiday classic. I’m sure it’s over the top and as silky sick as the original, but it’s what the Walnut does best, and sometimes it’s what you need in the holiday season. Tickets here.

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