Human Race Theater Company’s original holiday offering, Seasonal Shorts, is running now through December 21, 2025. It is a throwback to short sketch acts that theater companies used in the early 1900s to produce quick radio plays, typically featuring a few actors, one setting, minimal props, and sharp dialogue to deliver the message.
Presented as a sort of incubator, these seasonal shorts, as artistic director Emily Wells explains, are inspired by the success of a previous roundtable workshop held at HRTC. The creators aimed to return to form, this time celebrating the Holiday season. In true collaborative style, the writers have presented six original new vignettes: Kelsey Celek’s Greeting Card Holiday Movie, Aleah Vassell’s Three Turkeys, Robb Willoughby’s Three Wise Guys, Torie Wiggins’ Black Elephant, Marley Masterson’s Waiting for the Snow, and Chris Leyva’s Cookies for Santa.
The show began with an engaging introduction by Guest Host Emily Maki, (there will be a different guest host every performance).
Maintaining the theme of close collaboration, only three actors appear in all six playlets: Annie Pesch, Elliot Cromer, and AJ Balwin, with many of them taking on multiple roles within a single sketch. This is a true testament to the caliber of actors. Much kudos to actor Annie Pesch, who entertains the audience with her leg in a cast on a knee scooter!
Production Team
The lovely set by Eric Barker is sparse and minimalist, making it easy for Annie to move around freely and effectively for the story. There is a charming large wooden bookcase on the right, holding many props curated by Sarah Gomes, ready for the actors’ use. An announcer’s desk on the left maintains the theme reminiscent of vintage radio or television programs presenting these short sketches.
Costume design by Victoria ‘Ori’ Rancor is brilliant, effective, and flexible to accommodate multiple outfit changes. With sound by Bailey Olean, despite early hiccups, the audio goest smoothly. It features intermittent radio clips and commercials between the short sketches, reinforcing the nostalgic theme. It is very impressive that the Human Race Theater has their own jingles and advertisements woven in! Lighting by Kelsey Gallagher supports and enhances the stage and props, with beautiful backdrop lighting. Heather Wilson-Bowlby deftly directs all six of the shows.
Greeting Card Holiday Movie
Greeting Card Holiday Movie kicks off with chaos and relevance as the farce captures the spirit of cheesy, low-budget cable channel holiday greeting card films that viewers enjoy. While it clearly pokes fun at the nostalgic subculture. At one point, Elliot Cromer wore three different character outfits because he couldn’t change out of them quickly enough. Is it on purpose or tech issues? Either way it works. He keeps the story flowing smoothly without delay, showcasing his talent for humor and timing, truly demonstrating his artistry. The audience’s participation in shaping outcomes is clever, leading to unpredictable results that make it worth returning to see what different conclusions might emerge. A fun piece worth exploring further.
Three Turkeys
The first act set the tone for the evening as the high-energy romp transitioned into the more serious vignette of Three Turkeys, which addressed sensitive current topics like coming out, being true to oneself, and gaining acceptance from your family—especially during the busy holiday season with extended kin. Ironically, they faced these tough choices while physically trapped, accidentally inside the family closet. Go figure. Turkeys could easily be expanded into a longer holiday story, thanks to its timely and reflective themes.
Three Wise Guys
Switching suddenly to Three Wise Guys, the actors travel back in time to discover the ultimate rave (or is it a ceremony?) hosted by their coworker Jo-Jo. They abandon the camels and wander the desert, losing GPS signal while debating ‘Immaculate Conception.’ It’s an authentic adjacent narrative take on the reason for the season.
Black Elephant
After intermission, we are introduced to the intentionally awkward Black Elephant, which truly tackles the invisible elephant in the room of dismissive acceptance among people. It highlights the situation where a Caucasian boss tries to support the Black employee by organizing an unwanted Kwanzaa celebration at work. The piece aims to provoke questions and foster understanding among colleagues, as the clueless boss is finally forced to face his insensitivity. He is asked why he prefers to act pretentiously rather than do his job of nurturing his hired talent and rewarding them properly—such as giving timely raises—instead of planning an ill-advised holiday celebration. This subject deserves a more detailed and in-depth discussion.
Waiting for the Snow
Waiting For the Snow follows a more traditional vignette theme, exploring life, traditions, family, and death. While sweet and nostalgic, honoring the bonds of everlasting love, its premise is familiar and predictable. Given more time, this piece could be developed further to highlight more of a push-and-pull, adding a twist to the eventual ending.
Cookies for Santa
The final scene of Cookies for Santa was a bizarre mix of exaggerated video game-style violence featuring a Krampus-like Santa demanding cookies and milk from a homeless person, which then turned into a staged fight. This is eventually interrupted by an Amazon driver, who supposedly goes off script by suggesting a more fun and friendly holiday story for the audience. Clearly a parody of the season’s hype, the ending didn’t quite fix the story, as the actors suddenly broke into a weird, sparkling dance in an attempt to save the show and send the audience happily off to their ‘sad lives,’ but it didn’t really work. Not the actors’ fault—they did their best with what they had—but the script felt forced and chaotic, trying to emphasize the silliness that the presentation claimed to promise.
Overall
Since the premise of Seasonal Shorts is basically experimental, the roughness of some acts is understandable and shows a lot of potential for future growth. Interestingly, the more serious vignettes of the program worked better than the more marketed zaniness of the night, except for the first show, which could have been a great encore at the end. Perhaps with a second part exploring the exaggerated lives of the candy factory shenanigans, complete with more audience participation that could influence the story’s outcome. That would have made a fantastic grand finale.
Seasonal Shorts is a great incubator for short plays and writers. The program deserves support and encouragement from audiences to thrive and prosper.
Tickets to Seasonal Shorts
Human Race Theatre is presenting Seasonal Shorts now until December 21. Information and ticketing for all performances is available HERE.
While the show has an R rating, HRTC offers a Parent’s Day Out on Sunday Afternoons. (You watch the show, and they entertain the kids (ages 5-12). This world-class theatre workshop (a $100+ value) is free with the purchase of your tickets.
Run Time: 2 hours including intermission.
