Motherlover and Daughter

With the loss of her father a year earlier, eleven-year-old Janice doesn't feel too excited for Christmas. Her mother is fraught with panic attacks, crazy old Aunt Barbara wants to stay over with her 57 (yep, 57) cats, and their apartment is planning to kill them. No, not exactly the "most wonderful time of the year." Is it any wonder that Janice and her mother look to their respective dream boats, Justin Timberlake and Harrison Ford, to sweep them away to a more pleasant place? In between narrating her dolls' bickering sessions at insane tea parties, Janice decides to attempt her own Christmas miracle and heal her family. Echo Theatre Company presents Sheila Callaghan's absurdly touching Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday (December 3 through 19), in Theatre 134 at the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court (Sappington and Watson roads, Crestwood; 314-225-4329 or www.echotheatrecompany.org). Tickets are $15 to $20.
Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: Dec. 3. Continues through Dec. 19, 2010