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Dell’Arte Company’s 29th annual holiday show, “A Commedia Christmas Carol” opens in Dell’Arte’s Carlo Theatre on Friday, Nov. 27 and continues through Dec. 20. Free performances are available in Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka, McKinleyville, Scotia and more.

This promises to be a highly entertaining event for the whole family.

The Dell’Arte annual holiday show plays to an audience of over 7,000, touring for nearly a month across the Northcoast and Southern Oregon. The free production is made possible by its generous sponsors. For the past 6 years, Wildberries Market has been one of a number of community-minded businesses that have underwritten a portion of the costs of this event. These sponsorships not only make the holiday show possible, they also offer a direct benefit to the participating businesses, since people must visit a sponsoring business to obtain the free tickets. The holiday show is often the only live professional theatre adults and children in these small communities will see in a year.

Touring performances include Nov. 30 at the Van Duzer Theatre, HSU; Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts in Eureka; Wednesday, Dec. 2 at Trinity Valley Elementary, Willow Creek, Tuesday, Dec. 8 at McKinleyville High School; Thursday, Dec. 10 at the Winema Theatre, Scotia. These shows are free and start at 7:30 p.m. Donations of non-perishable food items will be accepted at every performance and given to a local food bank. For information on additional performances in Orick, Gold Beach, Point Arena, and Cave Junction go to www.dellarte.com. There will also be a performance on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the Mateel Community Center in Redway (contact the Mateel for ticket information for this performance).

While the shows are free of charge, it’s best to pick up tickets in advance at Dell’Arte, Plaza Design (in Arcata, Eureka, and McKinyleville), Wildberries Marketplace, or Pierson Building Center. Tickets will also be available at the door for the touring performances.

”A Commedia Christmas Carol,” will return to the Carlo Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 17 through Sunday, Dec. 20. These performances are all “pay what you can.” Reservations are advised and can be made by calling the box office. All shows are at 7:30 p.m. Please show up at the box office 20 minutes prior to show time or your tickets will be given away. For more information call the Dell’Arte box office at 707-668-5663 Ext. 5 or visit www.dellarte.com.

PHOTO BY JAMES DOUGLAS

The Ghost of Christmas Past (Emily Windler) shares a startling secret with Scrooge (Gabe McKinney) in Dell’Arte’s “A Commedia Christmas Carol.”