One of the definitions of family is “a group of individuals living under one roof…” and the Santa Clara Players’ unquestionably showcased that on December 5th, during their production of The Christmas Mouse. Written by Michael T. Antonucci over five years ago, The Christmas Mouse is a delightful show about a husband and wife sharing their household with a mouse family. The Christmas Mouse brings together two unlikely families in one household and subtly delivers a message to its audience about the importance of coming together during the holidays.
For many, the discovery of a mouse inside our home is rather unsettling and few would react in a welcoming way. However, the opposite is true for Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, who gladly share their house with the Mouse family and have been doing so for several years.
The story begins with Mrs. Robinson and her determination to win the annual Gingerbread House contest this year, after coming in second multiple times. For the Mouse family, the holiday season comes with a different set of goals. With winter approaching, the Mouse family will need to collect and store food, but when Chris (Christmas) Mouse decides to help and finds Mrs. Robinson’s gingerbread house, chaos ensues.
Unfortunately, Chris consumes the entire gingerbread house, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, as well as Father and Mother Mouse in disappointment. Knowing the wrong he has done, he decides to reconstruct the gingerbread house in time for Mrs. Robinson to win first place in the contest. For his family, Chris also manages to collect and store a surplus of food for the upcoming winter bringing delight to Father and Mother Mouse.
A consistent interaction between the actors and audience kept the overall feeling of the play friendly and warm. For this brief moment in time, it was as if the audience and the actors became one large family, who had come together to enjoy one another’s company. The exchanges between the children in the audience and Ashley Faus, who was brilliant and comfortable in her role as the Magical Storyteller, were among the greatest highlights of the show. Listening to the children’s ideas about what they could give Chris to make his stomach feel better after eating too much gingerbread, and hearing them sing along to the songs of the play, was delightful.
The Christmas Mouse is a truly family-themed show that is perfect for the holidays. The show drives home the message to its audience that no matter how different all of us are, at the end of the day we are one big family that works better together than alone.
The show began its run on December 5th and will have performances on December 12th at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and December 13th at 3 p.m. Tickets are free, but you can call (408) 248-7993 to reserve seats or for further questions.
THEATRE ARTS SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
In December 2012, Lindi Press, a longstanding actress with the Santa Clara Players’ was diagnosed with cancer and passed away three weeks later. Prior to her death, Press had played the role of Mother Mouse in The Christmas Mouse show and also appeared in My Three Angels. Lindi was a great supporter of community theater and after her death the Santa Clara Players received a donation in her name and named the scholarship in her memory.
The Lindi Press Scholarship is an opportunity for students graduating from Santa Clara High, Wilcox High, or St. Lawrence Academy who plan to pursue majors in Theater Arts in college. For more information on the Lindi Press Scholarship, visit www.scplayers.org.