Theater: “Canteen,” “The Wickhams”

It’s beginning to look a lot like the happiest time of the year. Which brings us to this week’s top picks onstage, a little light entertainment for a holiday. Christmas Canteen is back at Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville for a 24th season. The original revue resembles an old-time variety show, with songs, comic sketches, folksy humor and Christmas magic. It can get hokey, but it’s also totally joyous. Performances do sell out, so plan ahead.

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The San Francisco Chronicle described The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley as the “highlight of the holiday season” when it was done there. Theatrical Outfit stages the Lauren Gunderson-Margot Melcon sequel to Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, which it did in 2017 and 2018. While the Miss Bennet plot unfolds upstairs, Pemberley’s servants navigate their own scandal down below, as a diligent housekeeper, an indomitable maid and a lovesick groomsman struggle to control the boorish Mr. Wickham. It previews tonight and November 29–30, and opens the evening of November 30.