Kimberly Akimbo Award-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire has crafted a hybrid play, part comedy and part exploration of a rare medical condition. Mom is a hypochondriac, pregnant and with some real problems. Dad is an alcoholic in a dead-end job. Aunt Debra is an energetic schemer who's missing a few marbles and has a history of chicanery. Thank God for the teenagers. Neighbor Jeff is a bit of a geek, but his heart is in the right place and he cares about others. Daughter Kimberly is coping stoically with a rare, debilitating disease that ages her four and a half times faster than the chronological rate — at 16, her body is 72 years old. Jennifer Decker plays Mom, hugely pregnant, and she is intense and appealing as a woman who simply has learned the wrong coping tools. Luke Fedell plays Dad, a low-grade alcoholic, fortunately nonviolent, whose dreams are of such a low order that it approaches the endearing. Kim Tobin-Lehl plays Aunt Debra with enthusiasm and wide-eyed energy, making the most of a one-note character. Carolyn Houston Boone (an adult) plays Kimberly, the afflicted daughter, and creates a memorable portrait of a teenager trying to bring a sense of order to a dysfunctional family. She is well-matched by the remarkable Ty Doran, a ninth-grader, as Jeff, a teenager who befriends Kimberly and forms an attachment, seeing the youth inside her elderly body. The play has some amusing moments, but the aura of deepening depression works against humor and the script makes no serious effort to explore Kimberly's inner life. Kimberly Akimbo is directed with sensitivity and finesse by Houston theater veteran Ron Jones. The playwright under-delivers on both humor and insights, but the performances of Boone and Doran make this well worth seeing. Through December 15. Mildred's Umbrella, Studio 101, 1824 Spring St. 832-463-0409. — JJT
Sanders Family Christmas Part sacred and part comically profane, Connie Ray and Alan Bailey's musical testament to faith and family warms like hot chocolate and soothes like comfortable woolies. The ensemble cast plays it to perfection as the show veers between goofy comedy and misty-eyed sentiment, with musical numbers (gospel hymns, traditional carols, novelty songs) interspersed with "witnessing" monologues, some tender, some funny. The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church awaits the arrival of the renowned country gospel group the Sanders Family Singers. Pastor Oglethorpe (Kevin Dean) is atwitter at the visit. Burl (Gerry Poland) is the patriarch, a big, savvy country boy. His wife Vera (Shondra Marie) will "blister" anyone's backside if they disrespect her, or the Lord. Twins Dennis (Robert Price) and Denise (Sarah Cooksey) are on the verge of adulthood, with Dennis soon off to war. The play is set on Christmas Eve 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Rejoining the family is Uncle Stanley (Craig Griffin), an ex-con who's had a quick brush with fame by singing in a Hollywood western with Gene Autry. Unassuming, plain June (Katharine Hatcher) is the "nonmusical" Sanders. Although no one in the congregation is deaf, June "signs" the songs. Ms Hatcher gives one of the drollest performances so far this season, using a deadpan expression and exquisite timing that would do Buster Keaton proud. Music makes them whole, but the binding tie is family. Sanders Family Christmas is directed with a mighty sure touch by Joey Watkins, and the joys of Christmas are apparent. No matter what you believe, there's faith in that. Through December 31. A.D. Players, 2710 W. Alabama. 713-526-2721. — DLG