Crowded Kitchen Players is presenting an original comedy that combines the holiday season with a murder mystery.

“The Many Charms of Symon Tuttle (A Strange Christmas Play),” written by Lehigh Valley playwright Bruce Brown, has its world premiere, Dec. 19 - 23, Charles A. Brown Ice House, Bethlehem.

“The Many Charms of Symon Tuttle” takes place during the Christmas season. John (Billy Ehrlacher) and Brad (Dan Ferry) are taking a walk in a park. As Brad complains about not having a job, the two men stumble across the dead body of Symon Tuttle.

It turns out each man has a connection to the dead man, which is revealed through flashbacks. The play looks at the complicated relationships between John, Brad and other members of the community, each of whom may be responsible for the murder.

The body count rises as John and Brad find themselves involved in nefarious activities as they try to figure out what is going on. There also are spies and a bitter rivalry.

Brown, an Allentown native, calls the play unapologetically irreverent, provocative and intentionally confusing.

The cast includes Brown, Trish Cipoletti, Pamela Wallace, Scott Van Nortwick, Jake Walbert and Ara Barlieb, who also directs.

Long-time area actor Brown has performed at Munopco Music Theatre, Civic Theater of Allentown, Jewish Community Center, the former Guthsville Playhouse, as well as Crowded Kitchen Players, where he has been in nearly 20 shows since 2016.

Brown began writing plays at Dieruff High School when, encouraged by English teacher Bernie Schimmel, he penned a short play for the school drama club, which was performed at Allentown elementary schools.

In 1992, Brown won first place in a dinner theater murder mystery play-writing contest held by The David Group at the Ramada Inn, Whitehall Township. After that, Brown formed Come And Guess It Productions, producing and directing his own plays. He wrote 12 plays and produced eight during that period.

Brown says he wrote the first act for “The Many Charms of Symon Tuttle” in 2020 while he was going through rehab for alcohol addiction.

“Now, three-and-a-half sober years later, it is ready for viewing,” Brown says.

The show is recommended for adult audiences.

“The Many Charms of Symon Tuttle (A Strange Christmas Play),” Crowded Kitchen Players, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 20, 21, 22; 2, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 23, Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem. Tickets: 610-704-6974, https://www.ckplayers.com/

Perseverance Productions brings its national tour of “A Christmas Carol” to the State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton, at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16.

Presented by Perseverance Productions of Nashua, N. H., Charles Dickens’ powerful story of redemption has become an annual tradition at the State Theatre, as it enchants audiences with its simple message of holiday joy.

Ebenezer Scrooge (Dan Kamin), that most unrepentant and miserly of fellows, is made to see the light as he survives a merciless battery of revelations by the ghosts of his own life: Jacob Marley (Thomas Ian Campbell) and the Christmas Spirits of Past (Kalene “Koko” Blanton), Present (Tanner Berry) and Future (Mitchell Sharp).

With script adaptation, and direction by award-winning 40-year theater-veteran Scott H. Severance, the adaptation of the Dickens’ classic fills the stage with professional actors, lush costumes, stunning sets and puppetry, song and dance, a heavy dose of humor, and a timeless message. Woven through the story are 26 traditional carols.

The cast includes Sarah Harkness, Emelia Sherin, Emma Price, Benjamin Tedcastle, Evan Clinton, Abigail Graham, Matt Robison, Zada Lile, Amber Swenk, Jacob Swenk and Tony Gallo.

“A Christmas Carol,” 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16, State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. 610-252-3132, https://statetheatre.org/

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com