Snowflake looks at holiday intergenerational divides, at the Red Gate Revue Stage December 10 to 23

A father awaits his estranged daughter’s return in Mike Bartlett’s acclaimed British play

Natasha Burnett and Aaron Craven star in *Snowflake*. Photo by Shimon Karmel

Mitch and Murray Productions presents Snowflake at the Red Gate Revue Stage from December 10 to 23

WIDOWED, MIDDLE-AGED Andy has donned his favourite festive sweater and is waiting for his estranged daughter, Maya, to return for Christmas for the first time since her mother’s death. But will she even show up?

That’s the setup for Olivier Award-winning British playwright Mike Bartlett’s offbeat Snowflake, a story about intergenerational holiday divides that’s seeing its North American premiere, care of Vancouver’s Mitch and Murray Productions.

Aaron Craven stars as Andy, a man clinging to hope and in partial denial, his memories and self-awareness possibly not totally reliable. Natasha Burnett and Anni Ramsay costar as members of a politicized younger generation, set against the backdrop of Brexit. Local stage and screen veteran Jennifer Copping directs.

The Guardian called Snowflake "a masterfully written generational clash". Consider it a politically nuanced, unsentimental holiday story—but still with poinsettia tablecloths, twinkly tree ornaments, and tacky sweaters.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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