Play depicts the true meaning of Christmas

Danielle Switalski

The Plains-Paradise Players have nothing short of Christmas cheer and were more than happy to volunteer their time and share it with an audience on Saturday night at their Christmas show at the Paradise grade school.

The evening opened with a short play entitled “The Christmas Wish,” that encompassed the theme of the Christmas Show, which was that the true meaning of Christmas is not about material gifts, but togetherness and helping one another.

“The Christmas Wish” opened with an old man, played by Neuman Ryan, who would grant one wish to a nice family willing to share their food with him.

The first family, the Hoosten’s, played by Jake and Darcy Ryan, were greedy and had an abundance of food, but denied the old man dinner. The old man then moved on to Mrs. Van Hoek and Wilhelmina’s household, played by Roxsanna and Taralee Ryan, who were struggling to make ends meet and keep food on the table. True to a standard Christmas story, Mrs. Van Hoek graciously fed the old man despite their lack of food and were granted one Christmas wish, which left them very well off.

Following the short play was an abundance of individual performances, such as Maddie Beagley performing a vocal and guitar solo of Silent Night and a hilarious monologue called “Heave, Ho, Ho, Ho,” performed by Mary Lou Hermes as Mrs. Claus trying to help Santa stuck in a chimney.

The big performance of the night was a play called “Case of the Missing Meaning,” which followed detective Sam Heart, played by Ben Winkler, in his search for the true meaning of Christmas. After fruitlessly visiting department stores, a cranky mall Santa and a toy store filled with local children dressed up as various toys, Heart almost gave up his search for the true meaning of Christmas.

Heart ultimately finds that the true meaning of Christmas lay in the selfless act of giving. A poor woman, played by Mary Beth McChristian, was walking on a cold winter night without a coat, when a Christian came along and freely gave her the coat off his back. This is when Heart realized that the true meaning of Christmas could not be found in a department store and was not about material presents, but was about selflessly helping others in need.

The Plains-Paradise Players was formed a few years ago by Ruth Winkler. After working at the school for almost 20 years teaching music and drama, Winkler wanted to give kids and teenagers the opportunity to continue practicing the performing arts, especially older children who continued their education in Plains.

“They used to do it as part of a Christian program, but it got so big we just decided to have our own night,” said Winkler.

The Players move from different venues every year, but the Paradise grade school is Winkler’s favorite place to host the Christmas show as it is the only pace in town that has a real stage.

Winkler said residents usually bring in donations to help offset the cost of the props, but this year she simply asked people to bring baked goods so everyone could partake in a small party after the show.

Comments can be emailed to Danielle Switalski at reporter@VP-MI.com