A Tuna Christmas is the second in a trilogy of comedic plays (preceded by Greater Tuna and follwed by Red, White and Tuna), each set the ficitonal town of Tuna, Texas, the "third-smallest" town in the state. The trilogy was written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard. The plays are at once an affectionate comment on small-town, Southern life and attitudes but also a biting satire of same. The plays are notable in that two men play the entire cast of over twenty eccentric characters of both genders and various ages. The first play, Greater Tuna, debuted in 1981 in Austin; A Tuna Christmas debuted in 1989.
Williams and Sears regularly go on tour around the country to perform all three plays, with Howard directing. Sears and Williams did command performances of both Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas at the White House for President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush.
A filmed performance of A Tuna Christmas is available on VHS and DVD.
Cast of Characters (Partial)
Performed by Williams:
- Helen Bedd - A waitress at the Tastee Kreme
- Charlene Bumiller - Daughter of Bertha Bumiller and brother to Stanley and Jody; infatuated with Joe Bob Lipsey
- Jody Bumiller - Youngest child of Bertha Bumiller
- Stanley Bumiller - Aspiring taxidermist, fresh from reform school; twin to Charlene
- Vera Carp - Town snob and acting leader of the Smut-Snatchers of the New Order ("until the Rev. Spikes gets out of prison")
- Dixie Deberry - Controller of the Tuna Electric Company
- Petey Fisk - Employee of the Greater Tuna Humane Society
- Didi Snavely - Owner of Didi's Used Weapons ("If we can't kill it, it's immortal")
- Arles Struvie - A disc jockey at radio station OKKK
Performed by Sears:
- Bertha Bumiller - Housewife and mother to Jody, Stanley, and Charlene; member of the Smut Snatchers of the New Order ("Censorship is as American as apple pie, so shut up!")
- Pearl Burras - Aunt to Bertha, former riveter in Houston during World War II (the Japanese "never sank one of [her] ships!")
- Leonard Childers - Entrepreneur and radio personality on OKKK
- Sheriff Givens - Called "Rubber Sheets" due to his having wet the bed at church camp
- Inita Goodwin - A waitress at the Tastee Kreme
- Joe Bob Lipsey - the "not-the-marrying-kind" director of the Tuna Little Theater's "troubled production" of A Christmas Carol
- R.R. Snavely - UFOlogist and husband to Didi
- Thurston Wheelis - A disc jockey at radio station OKKK
Plot
The plot of A Tuna Christmas centers on the town's annual Christmas Yard Display Contest, won 14 times in a row by Vera Carp. A mysterious "Christmas Phantom," known for vandalizing the yard displays, threatens to throw the contest into turmoil. Among the subplots are Stanley Bumiller's attempts to end his probation and leave Tuna, Bertha Bumiller's trying to hold her family together at Christmastime, and Joe Bob Lipsey's struggle to mount successfully his production of A Christmas Carol despite numerous vexations and obstacles.
Honors for A Tuna Christmas
- Nominee, Outstanding Non-Resident Production, Helen Hayes Awards Non-Resident Production, 1990
- Nominee, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Touring Production, Helen Hayes Awards Non-Resident Acting, 1990, 1998
- Best Actor, Los Angeles Dramalogue Award, 1993.
- Nominee, Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, 1995
- Nominee, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Non-Resident Production, Helen Hayes Awards Non-Resident Acting, 1990, 1998
- L.A. Dramalogue Award