North Delta's Dustin Freeman (second from left) is one of the three kings in Ruby Slippers Theatre's production of Hotel Bethlehem.
The play is a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the Nativity story, topped up with a heavy sprinkling of the absurd.
Written by Vancouver playwright Drew McCreadie, the production follows Joseph – whose wife Mary is in labour, in the manger – as he gets caught up in the shenanigans of a pair of geriatric, philosophizing shepherds, an incompetent pack of Roman guards, a bickering trio of wise men, and an incorrigible, conniving Innkeeper with his saucy, sassy servant-girl.
Freeman has played Lord Grey in Bard on the Beach's Richard III and Dick the Butcher in Henry VI. He plays King Melchior in Hotel Bethlehem.
Hotel Bethlehem is playing at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby from Dec. 14-18. For tickets and more information, check www.shadboltcentre.com