The UGA Theatre and Film Department opened their performance of The Long Christmas Ride Home at Seney-Stovall Chapel on Jan. 31. The play, by Paula Vogel, follows an American family on their trip to the grandparent’s house on Christmas. The show explores the hard issues of homosexuality, adultery, domestic violence and familial dysfunction. “It’s about putting a family in front of you where you recognize this family and you’re a part of this family,” says Anthony Marotta, the director, “you see all the flaws of this American dream”.
The revolving topic in the Long Christmas Ride Home, that drives much of the plot, is the idea of identity and the struggle to accept ideas outside of the cultural norm. It takes place between the late 60’s to late 80’s, an “awkward intersection of American life, where a lot Americans are figuring out ways to talk about identity,” says Marotta, “Women are heading to work…and family dynamics are changing.” This was also a period of time when acceptance for homosexuality not as wide spread. A portion of the play takes place during the peak of the AIDS epidemic in the 80’s and Stephen, a character in the show, comes face to face with the deadly virus and his identity as a homosexual male. This character was specifically written by Paula Vogel because of her own brother who passed away from the AIDS virus. With such a personal connection in the writing, Vogel was able to create characters that are real and that justly discuss important topics such as these.
The Long Christmas Ride Home is not a standard play. “It’s an experimental piece…very much inspired by Thornton Wilder’s theatricality,” explains Marotta. The show is 
nonlinear, the plot loops on itself, the characters narrate each other and long monologues fill the gaps between flashbacks. The scenic design of the play reflects the
distinctive structure of the play. “We’ve got silhouette imagery, shadow play and…old-school overhead projectors. The actors are doing all [the effects] by hand and there are live musicians playing.” The play is visually captivating to watch.
The show is also unique in that the audience follows the transitions of the characters through various forms of puppetry. The hour and ten-minute play features 12 puppets of different styles, including Bunraku, Muppet and shadow. The children are represented by Bunraku puppets and minor characters are represented by Muppet and shadow puppets in the play. While the father and mother narrate, puppeteers in all black manipulate the children puppets and create a story-book type effect. As the play progresses, the puppeteers begin to help narrate their own puppets and the parents lose their omniscient position. The performance of narrated puppet theatre is an idea that purposefully mimics Japanese Bunraku theatre.
Bunraku, Japanese puppet theatre, is an ancient form of puppetry that began in the 17th century. The popular form was first associated with religious ritual. Lukas Woodyard, the dramaturg for the show, shares his discovery that Bunraku theatre actually originated 
from “nuns using finger puppets to chant” their rituals. The art form then transitioned as traveling puppeteers performed for money. Eventually Bunraku became a secular form of entertainment for adults. This type of high-art part performance is very complex, so The Long Christmas Ride adapts some of the characteristics in order to compensate for the number actors and budget for the show. For example, each Bunraku puppet in the show is only manipulated by one person. “Puppets in traditional Bunraku theatre are manipulated by three people.” One person controls the feet; another controls the left arm and the master of Bunraku controls the head and right arm. The training for this is extensive and lengthy. Only after completing 10 years of training can a puppeteer move from controlling the feet to controlling the left arm. With another 10 years of training that puppeteer can because a master and manipulate the head and right arm. The concept of narration in the play and stays to true to elements of traditional Bunraku theatre, where the narrator, or tayu, narrates the movements of the puppets.
Mark McManus, a M.F.A. graduate student who plays the role of “Man” believes Bunraku puppetry is used “to shed light on contrasting character statuses, provide enchanted physicalizations, and essentialize internal conflict that is less easily accomplished by actors.” On stage the puppets are able to complete feats that the human body can’t and they help create the unique aesthetic of the play.
Bunraku theatre isn’t the only element taken from Japan. The entire play is blanketed in Japanese culture from the Noh dances to the Japanese imagery portrayed in the scenic background, giving the play an otherworldly element. The use of the Japanese culture is used to create a distance between the audience and the seemingly familiar situations seen on stage. “The idea is,” says Marotta “to take these familiar things and making us look at them through a different lens.
The sibling fights, unhappy marriages, adultery, and identity crises make the play familiar to the audience despite the layer of Japanese culture. Taylor Bahin, a junior theatre major playing the role of “Rebecca” believes that The Long Christmas Ride Home is “that southern Christmas were you’re so over being in the car with your family…you’ve been in church forever and you’re tired of singing hymns.” The ability to relate to the characters on stage gives even the newest theatre goer the chance to enjoy the play.
“THE IDEA IS TAKING THESE FAMILIAR THINGS AND HAVING US LOOK AT THEM THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS”
– T. ANTHONY MAROTTA, DIRECTOR
“There’s so much to get out of seeing The Long Christmas Ride Home,” says Bahin. Each 
person’s message will be different. She hopes people “will want to go home and be close with their family.” McManus wishes people to “reflect on and relate to the more positive options of handling family conflict that are not highlighted in the play”. The director, Marotta, just hopes to create a “very theatrical form of storytelling” that can’t be experienced by watching a film and is “truly stuff you can only see in the theatre.” Even the playwright, Paula Vogel, tweeted that “this show looks amazing” in anticipation of the opening. The play runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5 at the Seney-Stoval Church. Tickets are available now for $12, $7 for students.