Performances are 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7, with a final show at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8 at the State Street Theater.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” is based on a 1972 young adult novel by Barbara Robinson. In the book and the play, a small-town church’s annual Christmas pageant is thrown into chaos when the regular pageant director, Mrs. Armstrong (played by Gwen Ruff) is hospitalized and unable to direct this year. Mrs. Grace Bradley (played by Jennifer Deutz) is forced to take over director duties. At first, Mrs. Bradley assumes her biggest challenge would be living up to the community standards for the pageant, but things become worse when it comes time to cast the play.

For the first time, the Herdmans — six unruly, trouble-making siblings — attend Sunday School and volunteer to play the main characters. The Herdman clan consists of Imogene (Eleanor Kalk), Ralph (Donovin Weber), Claude (Logan Kimsey), Leroy (Gus Sharf), Ollie (Alivia Hacker) and Gladys (Dylan Nilson). The kids are notorious among the community for their habit of cigar smoking, swearing, drinking, theft and arson. The only reason the kids attended the pageant audition was because they heard the church offered free snakes.

Mrs. Bradley is forced to cast the Herdmans in the main roles of Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and the angel because they intimidated the other kids into not volunteering.

Mrs. Grace Bradley, (right) played by Jennifer Deutz, attempts to explain the Christmas story to the Herdman family who have never heard the story of Jesus before. Imogene (left) and Gladys (center) Herdman played by Eleanor Kalk and Dylan Nilson have a laughing fit after their brother Ralph explains that the line “great with child” means pregnant.

As Mrs. Bradley leads the kids in rehearsing the pageant, everything that can go wrong goes wrong. The Herdmans are disruptive and argumentative. No one in the town is willing to let their infant play baby Jesus with Imogene Herdman playing Mary. Other members of the community including Reverend Hopkins (Richard Gurska) question if the pageant should be canceled this year. However, Mrs. Bradley realizes that if the town turns the Herdman kids away from participating in the Christmas pageant, it will miss the point of the Christmas story.

Early in the story Mrs. Bradley realizes none of the Herdman kids know the Christmas story before. As the Herdmans take on their roles, they start asking questions and challenging the traditional pageant and inadvertently teach the town and audience the true meaning of Christmas.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” is directed by Wendy Tuttle, who said she loved the play from the first time she read it for it’s thoughtful message.

Tuttle said that Mrs. Bradley’s line “We’re missing the point if we turn them away,” is the message of the entire play. It is a story about the importance of tolerance and understanding.

Tuttle said this year’s holiday production was really exciting due to the youthful energy of the cast. Since the story is about a cast of children putting on a pageant, most of the actors are younger.

Silas Dolan (left) playing Charlie; Amelia Hermanson (center) playing Beth and Mathew Loyd (right) playing Bob Bradley rehearse the scene in which the family learns Grace Bradley will need to direct the Christmas pageant. The Bradley children worry about who they play in the pageant, Mr. Bradley worries he may have to attend the pageant.

Tuttle said there are several cast members who are 9-13 years old and they have been great to work with.

“You cannot beat their energy,” Tuttle said.

One of the youngest actors in the production is 10-year-old Silas Dolan who plays Charlie Bradley, the son of the beleaguered pageant director. He is also the person responsible for letting the Herdmans know about the pageant.

Dolan has acted in a few school musicals before, but this is his largest acting role yet.

“I like that Charlie has a lot of lines and he is funny,” Dolan said. Overall he said it is relatively easy to play Charlie since the character is not much different from him in real life.

The Herdman kids gather in the nativity set during the final rehearsal for the town’s Christmas pageant in a scene from State Street Theater’s production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The play tells the story of a small town Christmas pageant that is thrown into chaos when the town ruffians are cast in the lead roles for the pageant. L to R: Donovin Weber as Ralph Herdman; Logan Kimsey as Claude Herdman; Gus Sharf as Leroy Herdman; Dylan Nilson as Gladys Herdman; Eleanor Kalk as Imogene Herdman and Alivia Hacker as Ollie Herdman. In the play within a play; Ralph plays Joseph; Claude, Leroy and Ollie play wise man, Gladys plays an angel and Imogene plays Mary.

Dolan said the greatest challenge is that the play is technically a play within a play. He’s playing a character named Charlie, but Charlie is also playing a shepherd in a Christmas pageant. It can be a little confusing, but Dolan is confident audiences will like the story.

“If you come to see this play, you will leave happy,” he said. “Everyone is doing a great job. It’s a really interesting production.”

Twelve-year-old Eleanor Kalk plays Imogene Herdman–the leader of the Herdman kids. She has arguable one of the most challenging roles in the play. In addition to playing the tough talking Imogene, she has to play her as an actor playing the role of Mary in a Christmas pageant. As Imogene takes on the role of Mary she has a change of heart. Kalk said it was this change of heart that made Imogene fun to play.

“She starts out rude, but she finds herself through the Christmas story,” Kalk said.

She said the most challenging part of the role was acting cruel to her fellow cast members in the earlier scenes.

Eleanor Kalk plays Imogene Herdman in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” Imogene is initially considered an inappropriate choice to play Mary mother of Jesus, but to the surprise of the audience, she grows into the role.

“Being mean is the hardest part,” Kalk said. “I am usually a kind person.”

Thirteen-year-old Amelia Hermanson, who plays Beth Bradley, has a double duty in the production. The Beth character serves as as the narrator in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The plays begins with her alone on the spotlight delivering monologue setting up the story and giving important background information.

Since the play is about putting on a play there are already several layers to the story. Hermanson has to go to the next level by breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience. She said the hardest part of her role is transitioning from her role as narrator, back into one of the regular cast members.

“How do I go from talking to the audience to fading back into the scene?” Hermanson asked. It is all a question of timing and hitting the correct mark.

Fortunately, Hermanson has help from her stage mom, Jennifer Deutz who plays Grace Bradley.

Deutz recently served as a narrator in the SSTC production “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” and has helped Hermanson with her role as Beth.

“I love working with Jennifer,” Hermanson said. “She is so helpful and is such an amazing lady.”

Deutz agreed that one of the best parts of playing Grace Bradley is being able to work with the young actors and serve as a surrogate mother.

“I get to be a mom on stage, which is my normal life,” Deutz said.

Deutz said “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is a great show for families to watch; especially around the holidays.

“It gets to the heart of Christmas,” she said. “It’s about learning to accept people.”

As an odd coincidence, SSTC production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” will be performed a few weeks after a film version of the story hits movie theaters.

Tuttle said “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” was selected for this year’s holiday play a year ago before anyone knew a film adaptation was being made.

Tuttle credits the coincidence to the popularity of the book. She hopes people who see the play will be inspired to read the book, which is readily available at most libraries and book stores. Tuttle gave special thanks to Lykke Books who provided an alternative space for the cast to practice.

“Anyone of any age will enjoy this play,” Tuttle said. “It’s not just a kids show. Anyone can come and love it.”