from

Seattle's alternative newspaper

(THEATER) Lauren Weedman has built a sterling reputation as a wickedly funny writer and performer, and On the Boards has been kind enough to remount the divine Miss W's seasonal solo show, If Ornaments Had Lips . Diving straight into the psychotic heart of the holidays, Weedman comes back up with a dark and hilarious collection of stories exploring "Interpersonal Christmas Hell." Directed by One World Theatre's Shawn Belyea, and featuring sound and music by James Palmer, this is the holiday show for all of those who'd put their eyes out before watching another production of A Christmas Carol .

-- DAVID SCHMADER the stranger theatre critic

from

by John Longenbaugh -seattle weekly

When it comes to skewering the holiday good and proper, however, I have to give this week's award to If Ornaments Had Lips , presented at On the Boards. While this is billed as a "one-woman" show featuring the esteemed writer/performer Lauren Weedman, musician James Palmer is a full-fledged partner in crime, from his initial entrance as a seedy-looking Christmas elf to the invaluable contribution of such songs as "Chrissy the Talking Reindeer" and the title number. He also plays, with a few minimal mumbles into his mike, all the characters required as background for Weedman's dark story of a relationship between two self-obsessed people around the holiday time.

Debraa (her name's spelling is just part of her bounteous creativity) loves Christmas, because it gives her a bunch of new ways to focus on the wonders that are her. These include her track-skipping medley of Christmas carols, her eccentric storytime sessions with her preschool class, and her collection of Christmas tree ornaments. This year, she's got a new boyfriend to share all of this with, a slacker artist who composes long poems where he compares her to a piece of food stuck on a lightbulb. In so many ways they're a perfect couple, but troubles arise, and it just doesn't look like a happy holidays is on the cards.

Weedman has the rare ability to show us those aspects of life that don't often get an airing on stage, like adults having screaming arguments in public, or how shared sexual fantasies can have unexpected consequences. (The image of her providing an "X-ray" perspective on what a French kiss looks like will, I'm afraid, haunt me for sometime.) Deftly directed by Shawn Belyea, this is the best solo work that Weedman has thus far developed, and is just too good to be exclusively seasonal fare.