It’s Christmas, and a family of five is headed to their grandparents’ house for food and presents. But over the river and through the woods it’s not. The parents' relationship is strained. The children squabble in the back seat, and the son is feeling sick. And after their holiday dinner disintegrates into verbal warfare, the family heads home in the worsening weather, and suddenly finds itself on the brink of an abyss both literal and figurative.

What sets the play apart is Vogel’s remarkable approach. The children are portrayed by near-life-size Bunraku puppets, and Vogel has layered the painful events with striking visual elements and music and dance, making for a magical and haunting piece of theatre.  Like much of her work, it’s not exactly cozy—but you’ll never forget it.

A note from the playwright:  "I have read that Noh plays are always presented in the season they represent:  spring, summer, winter and fall.  I suggest this play be produced in January, in October - in any month except December (although we played in a December blizzard in New York!).  The before and the aftermath."