(TRENTON, NJ) -- While the holidays are going to look a little different in 2020, Passage Theatre is continuing its tradition of presenting a special play reading to celebrate this time of year with its patrons.  Passage will present an online fundraiser play reading of Christmas 2.0 written by Donna Hoke and directed by Michelle Tattenbaum.

In Christmas 2.0, all Angela wants is a happy Christmas–or a more exciting life–but her daughter’s left for college, her husband’s obsessed with fantasy football, the plumbing’s a mess, and her cat won’t stop peeing where he shouldn’t. When an old friend gives her some tricky advice that leads her down a path of old memories and flip phones past, Angela must decide between the warmth of nostalgia and her new, more tech-savvy world. To provide more insight into the play reading, Passage will be releasing behind-the-scenes content and interviews featuring the artists across our social media platforms during the month of December.  

The cast of Christmas 2.0 includes: Ahmad Maksoud as Jeff, Autumn Hurlbert as Angela, Lipica Shah as Kelly, Pete Pryor as Billy, and June Ballinger as May.

Passage’s play reading of Christmas 2.0 will be presented as a pre-recorded video. There will be a group screening of the pre-recorded play reading at 7:00pm on Saturday, December 12 for patrons to watch together. Anyone who is unable to attend the group screening can privately watch the video starting at 9:00pm on December 12 until 11:59pm on December 15. Tickets to see this fundraiser are $25 and are available for purchase online.

Immediately following the December 12 group screening, Passage’s Board of Directors invites all attendees to join us for a Zoom holiday-themed after party, as an additional bonus, emceed by Board member Rev. Brian Joyce and Philadelphia drag queen Jenny Henny. At the holiday party, we'll be capturing some holiday cheer by auctioning off roles in Christmas classics. There will be merriment, script-reading, and high hilarity, all for a great cause: event proceeds support Passage's 2020-21 artistic programming. 

On December 7, Passage will be premiering its final online interactive Learning Lab videos geared towards children in grades five through eight accompanied by an information packet. In this Online Learning Lab, Passage Teaching Artists, Richard Bradford and Ryanne Domingues, along with special guest, Mydera Robinson, will teach students how to create and perform a spoken-word poem to uplift and inspire members of their community. All previous Learning Lab videos, which can be viewed as a series or individually, are available on Passage’s website and can also be found on Passage’s YouTube channel. Learning Lab videos are free to view, but we ask that parents and teachers consider making a $5 donation or more to support our efforts as we continue to produce more online content for students.  

As Julia Bumke, Passage's interim Artistic Director, describes "Even though the holidays look different this year, we're taking time to celebrate at Passage this month. Donna Hoke's Christmas 2.0 offers a heartwarming, funny, and hopeful dose of holiday cheer that feels extra necessary in 2020. The holidays are a time to count our blessings, and we're so grateful at Passage for the audiences and donors who have buoyed us up through 2020 and beyond."