Hawkeye Community Theatre will be performing “An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas.” Written by Todd Wallinger, the story follows a bookstore owner, her sister, and her niece. The owner and her niece lose a very important Christmas present, and magical literary characters attempt to help them find it without revealing their existence. The literary characters range from Tom Sawyer and the Velveteen Rabbit to Ebenezer Scrooge and the Nutcracker Prince.

The large cast includes Kayla Harlow, Molly Nelson, Chloe Harrison, Blake Peterson, Beckham Harlow, David Petersen, Tatum Hilbert, Nichole Jergens, Grace Lyon, Matilda Breeser, Evie McAree, Amanda Peart, Etta Petersen, Ily Eastwood, Kylie Peterson, Norah Lane, Elya Petersen, Izzam Mejia, Emma Connelly, Brandon McAtee, Megan Peterson, and Tim Olson.

The play is being directed by Stephanie Coble-Day, who has an extensive background in local theater.

“I’ve been directing at Hawkeye Community Theatre for six or seven years now,” she said. “I have a theater background, and I directed high school productions over the years, both in Fort Dodge and in different parts of the state. I really enjoy directing, and I really enjoyed working on a production with a new cast and just blending all their talents and abilities to really bring a script to life.”

-Submitted photo
Brandon McAtee and his daughter, Evie McAtee, are among several sets of family members in the upcoming Hawkeye Community Theatre production of “An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas.”

This play has a lot of moving parts and characters from all over the literary canon. Those elements stood out to Day and helped inform her decision on doing this play.

“I think what really drew me to it is the topic of the script,” she said. “It is bringing characters from classic children’s stories to life to help tell the story of a situation where you have a woman that lost her job, and she went to spend Christmas holiday with a sister that owns a bookshop, and that characters are really thoughtful, they want to help this woman get a new job and be successful and have a Merry Christmas. It’s really fun that these characters come to life, and with how we cast the show, we have a lot of kids as well as some adults in the show.

“The fun thing about these characters is that this generation of kids may not know a lot of these characters,” she added. “So we have characters like Ebenezeer Scrooge who people know, but we also have Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher who some kids might not know. We also have Jim and Della from ‘The Gift of the Magi.’ And so when we’re bringing to life these stories and characters, we’re also teaching a new generation of these old classic stories. So it’s fun to have a new relevant story, but we’re bringing these old characters to life. That’s one of the neat things about working with the cast and working with multi generations, that you’re sharing some old, old stories, bringing those to life, but also then creating a new story with the script that we’re doing.” Day also elaborated on why this story fits the holiday season perfectly.

“I was also drawn to it because it’s got a Christmas theme,” Day said. “It’s got these old, classic story books coming to life, and then it’s just a nice reminder of Christmas of, you know, we tried to help others and give to others to make sure that they’re happy. We want to bring that joy of Christmas spirit to life in multiple ways. So I think that’s what drew me to the show.”

She added that there is always an effort to include children in the cast for the December show.

-Submitted photo
Matilda Breeser poses with her mother, Amanda Peart, on the set of the Hawkeye Community Theatre play “An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas.”

“So this was a great opportunity to include children, because we have the characters from the books blended with adults,” she said. “So it’s a nice way to bring kids into the theater to perform and get to know Hawkeye Community Theatre. And it’s also a nice way to share a touching, sweet Christmas story.”

The multigenerational aspect of this production and theatre in general is a major selling point for Day.

“Hawkeye Community Theatre has been around a long time, and there’ve been many productions over the years where you have multiple generations,” she said. “This year, it’s super exciting that we have three generations of actors on stage. This year we have Tim Olson and we have Kayla Harlow and Beckham Harlow all acting together. So Tim is the grandfather and Kayla is the daughter and Beckham is the grandson. It’s super exciting because I worked with Tim in the past, and now Beckham is old enough to be a part of a production.

“I think that’s just so neat to see that the traditions that Tim started acting and bringing his daughter to rehearsals, and then Kayla started acting as an adult, and now she has the opportunity to have her son on stage with her is just so fun and such a wonderful thing to be a part of. We have many families who take their passion for being part of the community theater and share it with children so they get to experience that together. So for me, it’s just really exciting to just have them all in together and be able to experience that, and be able to share these fun moments with this family. I’m really excited to be part of it.”

The show will run from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7, with performances at 7 p.m. nightly and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10.

-Submitted photo
A handful of characters from various books gather with the Book Fairy in this scene from the Hawkeye Community Theatre play, “An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas.”

IF YOU GO

What: Hawkeye Community Theatre’s production of “An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas”

When: 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Hawkeye Community Theatre, 521 N. 12th St.

Admission: $10