What if Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol had a modern-day spinoff featuring Jacob Marley – only this time, Marley was a gumshoe? Okay, a “dead as a doornail” gumshoe? It might be called A Christmas Cactus, an Off The Quill production written by Eliot Byerrum and Directed by Leanne Dinverno at the Greenbelt Arts Center.
In this holiday comedy, it is not Ebenezer Scrooge, but Cactus O’Riley (Shannon Riley) who owns the business,
Everybody lies. Shakespeare was teaching it long before House. In a newly adapted physical translation of the Bard’s greatest tragedy, Off the Quill presents their interpretation of Hamlet: Believe None of Us. Fully formulating the quote of “oh what tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive,” this new dance-based performance has all of the recognizable quotes and characters but with a few major plot altering elements that may leave you questioning what exactly happened to the crowned Prince of Denmark.