Surely I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that this year, the ghosts and goblins of Halloween had scarcely departed before being replaced by wreaths and Rudolph. A cartoon I recently received referred to the time between September 1 and January 1 as “Merry Thanksgivoween.” Remember when, in the nearly forgotten musical of Mame, they sing about the oddity of hauling out the holly only one week past Thanksgiving? Nowadays, we’re trimming the tree while experiencing record November heat. It’s enough to make anyone exclaim “Bah, humbug.” For those of us inspired Scrooge wannabees, Christopher Durang, he of Sister Mary Ignatius fame, has created a modern day Christmas Carol that roasts chestnuts like Dickens, It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Gift of the Magi over an open fire. Southwest Shakes, breaking further away from their “All Shakespeare All the Time” stratagem, has mounted this lambasting of all things jolly early in the “Merry Thanksgivoween” season. With irreverent director Ben Tyler at the helm, this is a successful production of what feels to be a rough-edged script.

One prerequisite to understanding this hodgepodge compilation is at least a passing understanding of such famous Christmas stories as A Christmas Carol, Frank Capra’s movie, and O’Henry’s cloyingly sweet tale of gift-giving gone awry, for not only are Scrooge (Sandy Elias) and the Cratchit clan (John Basiulis as dad, Vanessa Kiernan as the slowly unraveling Mrs., Eric Zaklukiewicz as Tiny Tim, Adrian Burrell as Little Nell, with the two anonymous children played by Kerry McCue and David Ojala) visited by the Ghosts of Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come (all in the form of the stage-filling presence of Rico Burton), but the freshly winged angel Clarence (Peter Good), George Bailey (played appropriately by Michael Bailey), and Oliver Twist’s Beadle (Tim Shawver) and his wife (Sarah Wolter) come careening through. As out there as Durang’s texts tend to be, this one spins a little more wildly than most, and it’s easy to get lost if you don’t get the many varied references, most especially the final one that wraps up the show.

The ensemble is consistently and appropriately manic with a wild-eyed holiday gleam in their eyes. Tyler has kept the show running pitched forward and aimed at the gut. He also does a good job of directing traffic at moments when everyone is onstage, especially during the frenetic dance numbers.

Burton is a jovial, spirited spirit. Her grand onstage persona makes her a great choice for this role. Elias is a kinder, gentler Scrooge. He isn’t as threatening as some may portray him, but he goes toward snide, which is a stronger choice with the material. Kiernan is an absolute scream as the bad Mrs. Cratchit. She plays more toward realism which makes her predicament (being trapped among desperate but unreasonably happy people) easy for anyone who has spent any time in a holiday party to understand. Her turn at the end is textually a little severe, but she handles it with snarling grace. There is no weakness in the remaining ensemble, and each gets their chance to crack a joke or twist a phrase for their moment in the spotlight.

Patrick Walsh’s generic set is supplemented with ingenious rolling carts that sweep us into and out of various settings. Dori Brown’s lighting in the red (!) box space is well designed, and Hayley Larsen’s costumes capture the silliness of the evening.