One Christmas Eve at Evergreen Mall a hit

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert Civic Theatre has come up with the perfect play for the holidays in One Christmas Eve at Evergreen Mall. The production, written by Lynne Halliday, James Hindman, Arlene Hutton, and Craig Pospisil, consists of eight inter-connected stories that provide a charming introduction to the holiday season.

The stories include a teenage boy who steals a Baby Jesus from the mall’s Nativity scene; a mother shopping with her angry college student daughter; a newlywed couple; a couple trying to maintain the holiday traditions of the husband’s dead first wife; a lovelorn mall Santa and his sexy, but ditzy, elf; a shoplifter; two actors sparring over a production of A Christmas Carol; and a mall shop manager and his staff.

The entire cast, directed by Ashley Roberts, assisted by Jan Miller, does a very nice job of portraying the charm, humor and poignancy of the stories, while a number of cast members excel — including several who take on multiple roles.

Dianna Hicks is excellent as the head mall cop whose daughter’s boyfriend stole the Baby Jesus, while also mother who was dumped by her husband for another woman, while Julie Suever has no problems handling the diverse roles of a newlywed, the wife of a man who lost his first wife, and Santa’s elf. Sean Carpenter shows off a clueless charm as an overzealous mall cop and a teenage boy who steals the Baby Jesus, while also easily transforming into a successful businessman who learns some Christmas lessons from his new wife when they return to the mall after many years.

VWCT veteran and board member Terry Plas shows off her considerable acting chops as a female Scrooge who spars with a male actor who thinks he should have gotten the role (John Havill, who also aptly portrays the mall Santa), and then pivots to a tired longtime mall shop employee who sees the shop manager’s job (and much-needed Christmas bonus) she deserved go to the boss’s son.

The mall set is perfectly designed for the production and really accentuates the feeling of being in a mall during Christmas, while light design Amy Boley and sound design (Burdette Bolenbaugh) are fine-tuned to enhance the cast’s efforts. Also well-done are the costumes sewn by Suzanne Kreischer and Ann Nussbaum for the production.

One Christmas Eve at Evergreen Mall, which is sponsored by Slusher’s Jewelry, continues this weekend (December 11-14), with evening performances starting at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at https://vwct.org or by calling 419.238.9689.