Detailed Show Synopsis (Spoiler Alert)
Act One: As the play opens, Esther, the ghost of a deceased elderly woman, speaks directly to the audience. She relays her views on death and the holiday season while lining up to gain access to the Afterlife. Once at the front of the line, she is told by “Afterlife Admissions Officer” Salena that she has been denied entry to Heaven and will be sent back to the living world—specifically, to Vancouver—because she has outstanding regrets, and needs to resolve them. These regrets seem to involve her estranged daughter, Miriam, mother to Chloe and Simon, who recently separated from her husband, Steven. For the holidays, the kids will split their time between Miriam (celebrating Hanukkah) and Steven (celebrating Christmas). Simon, who loves video games, hopes to get an X-Box console; Chloe hopes for an iPhone, but her parents are resistant to her getting a smartphone, restricting her to a basic flip-phone. When Chloe opens an early present (still weeks before Christmas) fromher father, there is an iPhone inside the box. Chloe is elated, but Steven is baffled. He tells Miriam that he had bought her a new flip-phone, and has no idea how an iPhone ended up in the box. Miriam is angry; she doesn’t believe that this was some inexplicable accident. She reluctantly allows Chloe to keep the phone, for the time being, with rules strictly regulating its use. Later that night, Miriam catches Chloe smoking marijuana in her bedroom, but she tries not to be too stern with her daughter, admitting that sometimes she’s hard on her. They talk about Miriam’s complicated relationship with Esther, who listens in and is offended that Miriam refers to her as “selfish.” After Miriam leaves, Esther appears to Chloe. Chloe screams in fright, as Esther tries to quiet her down.
Act Two: Esther explains to Chloe that the iPhone mix-up in the early present was her doing, to communicate with Salena, the “Afterlife Admissions Officer.” Simon comes in, and is similarly shocked. Miriam hears the kids, and re-enters; Esther hides, so that her daughter doesn’t see her. Later, Esther re-appears to Chloe and Simon, and they suddenly enter a holiday-themed virtual reality game, populated with famous Christmas movie characters and video-game versions of Joseph and Mary in the nativity stable. In video-game combat style, Chloe fights Mary and takes a necklace from her. Once the necklace is back in Chloe’s hands, they are transported to the next level, where they see Esther lying on a hospital bed. They play through a real memory in which Miriam and Chloe visit Esther in a nursing home. Esther gives Chloe the necklace, mistaking her for Miriam, and apologizes for abandoning her as a child. The level ends, the trio exits the game, and Chloe says, “I know exactly what I need to do.” Two weeks later, just before Christmas, Chloe and Simon put on a performance for their parents, which culminates with Chloe declaring that Miriam wouldn’t have left Steven if she had known that Esther regretted abandoning her. Miriam denies this, saying that what happened with Esther is in the past, prompting Chloe to run upstairs to her bedroom. When Miriam attempts to console her, Chloe tries to tell her about her encounter with Esther, but Miriam doesn’t believe her. Chloe shows her mother the necklace. Miriam is startled to see it. Then Esther herself appears to Miriam—a stunning sight! Esther apologizes to Miriam for having left her as a child, and tells her that she loves her. Miriam says she loves her, too. Just then, Salena appears to Esther, suggesting that she has finally resolved her regret and can now enter Heaven. Chloe and Simon tell their grandmother goodbye, and they join their parents, happily interacting and enjoying the holiday time.