During the holidays as a kid, I was dragged to theatrical productions of The Nutcracker, It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, but never once did I get to pelt Ebenezer Scrooge with garbage while the character was on stage. But, during a performance of The Lord of Misrule, audience members’ throwing garbage on stage is actively encouraged.
Audience disruption is among the key features of this Christmas play, and for the chance to disrupt the action on stage, audience members make charitable donations during the performance. It’s sowing Christmas chaos for a good cause. Oh, and the tickets are free.
The Lord of Misrule is coming to Salt Lake City’s The Beehive, a venue in the vegan diner Mark of the Beastro, (666 S. State St., Salt Lake City) for five nights only, starting this weekend:
- December 22, 2023 at 8 p.m.
- December 23, 2023 at 8 p.m.
- December 24, 2023 matinee at 2 p.m.
- December 26, 2023 at 8 p.m.
- December 27, 2023 at 8 p.m.
The origins of The Lord of Misrule
According to the theatrical company, “The Lord of Misrule” dates back to an ancient Christmas tradition called Saturnalia, during which “A beggar is crowned the Lord of Misrule to preside over drunken mobs and Christmas parties. The Lord of Misrule would often make demands of local gentry.” Typically, they would demand more alcohol to keep the party going, and “If the gentry failed to meet the demands, the Lord of Misrule would incite a riot…Basically, forced Christmas Charity.”
The modern version of The Lord of Misrule keeps the absurdity to the stage and audiences willingly donate money to charity to influence how actors perform their scenes.
The first Lord of Misrule production was in winter of 2019, as a reaction to the closing of the Road Home in downtown Salt Lake City. The show raised money to help transport people from downtown to the new Road Home location in South Salt Lake, so they wouldn’t have to make the journey on foot in the middle of winter.
Even though the modern tradition began in 2019, audiences will never see the same performance twice, thanks to the clever and chaotic mechanic of audience disruption and challenges for the actors.
How does audience donation/disruption work?
The show’s program contains a list of 69 (of course there are 69) challenges for the actors. Any member of the audience can “order” one of these disruptive challenges by making a charitable donation during the show either with cash or Venmo.
For example, an actor could be forced to perform their scenes while doing physical challenges like squats or planking, or they may have to affect an accent, chug water or end every sentence with “Daddy.” As more and more of these challenges are piled onto the characters throughout the show, the more their “real personalities” bubble to the surface for the audience to see. By the third act, the show has likely and delightfully gone completely off the rails.
This year, the charitable donations given during productions of The Lord of Misrule will benefit Our Unsheltered Relatives, an organization that prepares fresh, hot meals for the homeless population on Rio Grande every weekend. The funds will help purchase healthy ingredients, kitchen equipment, and other operational costs.
On certain nights of the show, donations will also help fund Alternative Arts and Music Program (AAMP), which works to improve arts access by providing free or no-cost resources and classes to Utah’s independent performance artists, with a focus on alternative art and communities who are underrepresented; as well as help cover the costs of friend of the show Pidgin Green’s gender-affirming surgery.
What is the show about?
As Creative Director, R.J. Walker puts it, The Lord of Misrule is a crass interpolation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but it is also so much more than that.
The main action of The Lord of Misrule concerns televangelist character Lucas Karol. Karol purports to heal the “sick,” perform “exorcisms,” and, while doing this, collects donations from his faithful followers in exchange for performing these miracles. It all happens on his daytime TV show, Scriptures Unscripted. Then, as the play’s summary puts it, “during Pastor Karol Presents: A Christmas Carol, a rowdy mob hijacks the show and the Pastor, his wife, and his special guests are forced to obey the orders of the Lord of Misrule who is leading the mob while performing their Christmas pageant…Will Pastor Karol’s church survive this hostile yuletide takeover?” This year, The Lord of Misrule has an all trans/non-binary cast.
For more information, visit The Lords of Misrule Theatre Company’s website.
Oh right, I almost forgot about the garbage throwing! During the show, there’s a trash can in the middle of the stage, and there’s a big surprise that happens if a member of the audience manages to sink a basket in the garbage can by throwing their trash on stage.
Merry Misrule, everyone!
