Tucson Weekly : Arts : Bittersweet Nostalgia
By JAMES REEL
The play is derived from Truman Capote's prose reminiscence of one particular Christmas during the time when, as a 10-year-old, he'd been sent to live with distant relatives in tiny Monroeville, Ala. Most of the relatives were not especially child-friendly, but for the most part, they could be ignored, because one among them, an aunt called Sook, turned out to be the best friend a lonely boy could have.
A Christmas Memory is a model of its genre, the lyrical prose making its effect not through arcane vocabulary or provocative imagery but through the artful arrangement of fairly simple words. At Beowulf Alley, that narrative is delivered by Jeff Scotland as the adult Truman.
Glenda Young is equally fine as Miss Sook. Young neatly conveys the easily bruised joy and innocence and essential strength of the character.
The young Buddy is often played by an adult, but here, the role is taken by an authentic sixth-grader, the enthusiastic and likable Will Bostwick.
