A Tuna Christmas
by Ed Howard, Joe Sears, and Jaston Williams
Content Guide
Language: Moderate adult language is used. Many uses of “God” and “Lord.” One use of “crap.” Several uses of “damn,” and “hell” by various characters. A couple uses of “ass.” Six uses of “God-damn” by one character, drawn out for comedic effect. The phrase “useless as titties on a boar hog” is said once. One character remarks that she is “up to my knockers in frozen patties.”
Smoking and Drinking: One character smokes cigarettes. A few other characters drink alcohol, and become inebriated. All props in A Tuna Christmas are mimed, so there are no physical cigarettes or alcohol bottles on stage.
Suggestive Material: There are a few innuendos and plays-on-words for comedic effect. Two characters are named Inita Goodwin and Helen Bedd. There are references to a character being gay. There is a group called the “Smut Snatchers” in Tuna who censor innocuous phrases in fear that they are actually offensive (for instance, mishearing “round yon virgin” as “round young virgins”). There are several references to certain characters being unfaithful to their spouses. One character remarks that she figured she should “find out something about safe sex.”
Violence: Two characters shoot at blue-jays with a mimed slingshot. A few violent incidents are mentioned for comedic effect. Some characters threaten others with violence.
For what audience?: A Tuna Christmas is a loving satire of small-town Texas. As such, many of the characters are sometimes politically incorrect or even insensitive; but these instances are all played for comedic effect and are intended to be satirical, not offensive. For instance, there is a short radio commercial with a character from “Klan 249” advertising a Christmas party with the theme “the Whitest Christmas Ever.” Two radio news hosts can’t pronounce the name of a foreign country on-air and say, “Well, folks, they must be foreigners, so never mind!”
At the same time, A Tuna Christmas is not condescending or mean-spirited towards Texans or Southerners. The writers of A Tuna Christmas were Texans themselves, after all.
Rating: If A Tuna Christmas were a movie, it would probably be rated PG for language and some suggestive material. It may not be suitable for young children.
Parlor Room Theater 