About the Play:

A Christmas Story is a full-length holiday comedy by Philip Grecian. Based on the movie of the same name, this heartwarming play tells the story of a young boy named Ralphie Parker who attempts to convince his parents, his teacher, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun is the perfect Christmas gift. Narrated by Ralphie's adult self, this play is a satirical tale of a middle-class family negotiating the challenges of Christmas, through the lens of a nine-year old boy.

A Christmas Story follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder B.B. gun under the tree for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself, at Goldblatt's Department Store. The consistent response: "You'll shoot your eye out." All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family's temperamental exploding furnace; Scot Farkas, the school bully; the boys' experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie's father winning a lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a net stocking; Ralphie's fantasy scenarios and more. Relive a family tradition or start one anew with this stage version of the holiday favourite, inspired by humorist Jean Shepherd's classic American stories about Christmas – and growing up – in the Midwest in the 1940s. This celebrated holiday classic is the perfect holiday treat for the entire family.

A Christmas Story is a play based on the 1983 American film by written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark. The film was adapted from Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid, one of the stories in Jean Shepherd's best-selling 1966 book, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. The play enjoyed widespread acceptance, and has become a popular choice for school and community theatre productions.

Cast: 4 female, 7 male (Expandable)

What people say:

"A Christmas Story is still... one of the more enchanting ways to be transported to a world beyond our own. Yet it also serves to remind us how lucky we are to live a culturally rich life... and Philip Grecian's thoughtful stage adaptation preserves the old...references." — Plain Dealer

"Classics bloom quickly in modern times...you don't have to have grown up with 9-year-old Ralphie Parker and his ache for an air rifle under the tree to think of A Christmas Story as a Christmas must. And [this] version is just as kindly and just as cockeyed as A Christmas Story is meant to be." — Orlando Sentinel

"Grecian's script retains Shepherd's wry, tongue-in-cheek humor." — Orange County Register

About the Playwright:

Jean Shepherd (1921-1999) was an American writer, humorist, satirist, actor, radio raconteur, and television and film personality. He spent 21 years on WOR-AM in New York City beginning in 1956. A master storyteller, he took bits and pieces from his own life to weave tales of the joy, humour, intrigue and angst of growing up. His masterwork, A Christmas Story, has become a cultural staple after years of 24-hour marathons on cable television.

Philip Grecian is an American playwright and theatre entrepreneur. Among his numerous achievements, he wrote the stage version of the holiday favourite A Christmas Story, which is produced annually by scores of professional, educational and community theatre companies throughout the English-speaking world.