Townhall Players offer 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'

Young Townhall actors include (back, l to r) Renee Gilles (Imogene Herdman), Stuart Martin (Leroy Herdman) Brady Penz (Ralph Herdman), front row Colleen Newman (Gladys Herdman), Jordan Levesque (Charlie Bradley) and Brandon MacRae (Claude Herdman).

Christmas shows have become a much-loved tradition at the Caledon Townhall Players. This year's production will delight and engage both children and adults.

What could be more quintessentially Christmas than a group of children preparing for a church Christmas pageant?

"But it's always the same old story," complains Beth, the narrator of this charming play. Everyone knows which children will play Mary and Joseph, who will be the Wise Men and the shepherds and who will sing in the angel choir. "Every year it's the same," Beth laments. Except this year will be different because of the Herdman kids.

We are told from the beginning of the play that, "The Herdman kids are the worst kids in the history of the world." They steal other kids lunches, smoke cigars, bully the little kids and generally terrorize the neighbourhood. All the other children are afraid of them and especially Beth's little brother Charlie, who has to give up his lunch every day to Leroy Herdman. When Charlie is asked to name his favourite thing about going to church every Sunday he said, "No Herdmans!" But Charlie makes a big mistake when he taunts Leroy by telling him that the children get all the desserts and treats that they want in Sunday school. This desperate lie changes everything. The next Sunday for the very first time, all six of the Herdman kids are at Sunday school, from Imogene, Ralph and Leroy to Ollie, Claude and Gladys. "Gladys isn't big," says Charlie, "but she's fast, and she's mean, and she bites!" Unfortunately they are there just in time to learn about the Christmas pageant.

Through extraordinary circumstances, Beth's mother is saddled with the responsibility of directing the church Christmas pageant. The dominant matron of the Ladies Aid church group, Mrs. Armstrong, has broken her leg. Against a backdrop chorus of gossiping church ladies, Grace Bradley, the Mother endeavours to complete her task and becomes determined to produce "the best Christmas pageant ever!"

This heart-warming play by Barbara Robinson, based on her book of the same title, is an engaging and lively re-telling of the Christmas story as seen through the eyes of children. These tough, streetwise Herdman kids had never heard the Christmas story and it is a revelation to them. They know about poverty and privation firsthand. They know what it means for a child to be born into poor circumstances without even a bed for comfort. "We put Gladys in a bureau drawer," says Imogene, matter-of-factly when told that the baby Jesus was placed in a manger. The Herdmans take over the Christmas pageant and make it their own. They decide that the gifts of the Magi are silly and impractical. They substitute with more pragmatic choices such as the Christmas ham from their own welfare basket. This play will make you laugh out loud and it will tug at your heartstrings as these tough little urchins give new life and meaning to the Christmas story.

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," directed by Jennifer Penz and presented by the Caledon Townhall Players will run for two weekends in December from the 1st to the 9th. There are matinees on both Saturdays and Sundays with evening performances on Saturdays only.

Show times are 2:15 p.m. for the matinees and 5:15 p.m. for Saturday evenings. Adult admission is $10. Kids are $5 with a donation to the food bank (canned or dry goods please).

Please call the box office for tickets or information at 519-927-5460.