Ten Questions about the Holidays: Playwrights Edition
iPhoto caption: Nicolas Billon's Butcher. Photo by Dahlia Katz
We asked three of Toronto’s top playwrights artists—Judith Thompson, Fab Filippo, and Nicolas Billon—ten questions about the holidays… These are the responses we got.
JUDITH THOMPSON
One word to describe the holidays
Illuminated.
Favourite play set during the holidays
Butcher, by Nicolas Billon.
Favourite and least favourite holiday movie
Charlie Brown Christmas. No least favourite.
Best holiday drink
Whiskey.
Best holiday food
Cookies.
Go-to holiday album
Charlie Brown Christmas.
Best holiday memory
The last two holidays, having all my grown children around.
Worst holiday memory
About ten years ago or more—angry teenagers.
Worst present you’ve ever given
The wrong sweater.
Worst present you’ve ever received
Polysporin.
FAB FILIPPO
One word to describe the holidays
Cisgender.
Favourite play set during the holidays
Holiday plays are like going to church.
Favourite and least favourite holiday movie
The Santa Clause and It’s A Wonderful Life. Wait, no, the other way around.
Best holiday drink
Booze.
Best holiday food
Sugar.
Go-to holiday album
Christmas with the Rat Pack.
Best holiday memory
The year my son was born, home, just the three of us with booze and sugar.
Worst holiday memory
Too many to choose from.
Worst present you’ve ever given
Every present. I’m the worst present-giver. It’s a real shortcoming.
Worst present you’ve ever received
I’m practising gratitude right now so I won’t answer that. A poker set in a large fake wood carousel.
NICOLAS BILLON
One word to describe the holidays
Blergh.
Favourite play set during the holidays
Why has no one adapted Die Hard for the stage yet?
Favourite and least favourite holiday movie
Favourites include Die Hard and Go. My least favourite? The travesty that is the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Best holiday drink
A dark, rich porter.
Best holiday food
Turkey.
Go-to holiday album
Anything that isn’t Christmas music.
Best holiday memory
Despite my reputation for being a grinch, I have many good memories of the holidays. As a child, we’d go to Geneva every second Christmas and visit my extended family there. My grandmother was a terrific cook and always made me a flan whose equal I’ve yet to find. More recently, I got married on Christmas Eve in 2013. That was a sweet way to celebrate the holidays!
Worst holiday memory
See “Worst present you’ve ever received” (below). I learned a valuable lesson about how the world works that year, but in the moment it crushed my soul a wee bit.
Worst present you’ve ever given
I don’t know, but I’m sure that I have given some bad presents. Just not on purpose.
Worst present you’ve ever received
When I was fourteen, our Christmas included two family friends, a couple. I wanted to make them feel welcome, so I made some enquiries and tracked down a gift that I was sure they’d enjoy. From their expressions when they opened it, it seemed my homework paid off. They handed me a gift—a folk-rock album by a dude who looked like a teenage Gandalf. Printed diagonally across the plastic wrap were the words special price, which was what HMV used for CDs in the bargain bins. Not only was it a thoughtless and cheap gift, but they didn’t even bother to hide it.
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