A Christmas Story delivers family fun

A Christmas Story seems to have two orbits: One around those who know and love the semi-obscure, rather strange movie from the early 1980s and one around those who haven't a clue what it is.

Persephone Theatre, with the play adaptation, gives the uninitiated a chance to see what the fuss is about while the zealots enjoy the same story in a different way.

It's a big show with a big cast, a big set and an amazingly faithful following of the events in the movie. This is the story of Ralphie (Christian McQueen), growing up in wintry Indiana before the advent of television and desperately desiring a BB gun for Christmas.

Anyone who's ever been a kid can identify with the high-stakes game of putting all your hopes in one holiday basket. It's a gamble that risks bitter disappointment, not to mention an eternity of waiting for another chance - that eternity consisting of one whole year.

The play version features a grown-up Ralphie (Tom Rooney) as narrator and occasional participant, looking back on it all. Vocally, his approach is rather neutral, wryly stating facts without conveying much emotion. Director Johnna Wright seems to have been going for directness and simplicity but at times, at least on Saturday, Rooney's delivery was too detached. It would have been nice to see more out of an actor of his abilities.

Matthew Burgess takes charge of the most vivid character and was a blast as The Old Man - a funny, silly, contest-loving, furnace-fighting, language-fouling father. Jamie Lee Shebelski is right at home as the Mother, compassionate with her kids but no pushover when it comes to enduring the god-awful "major award" won by her husband.

McQueen, an engaging young actor in Grade 6, is up to the large task of conveying poor Ralphie's tortured emotions. He was particularly funny on Saturday during the fantasy segment (there are several, and they're quite weird) where he imagines himself going blind from having his mouth washed out with soap.

Other notable actors include Solomon Brown (who'd be perfect for a remake of Home Alone) as little brother Randy, and a very self-assured Ireland Cockwill as Esther Jane, who brings a faint hint of romance and some comedy in the form of awkward preteen conversations.

The look of the show is dead-on with the set, by David Roberts, a terrific old two-storey house surrounded by ramshackle fences and messy power poles. Period clothes and those great old buckle-up galoshes assembled by costume designer Wes D. Pearce also conveyed the age.

The visual show-stopper is the landmark department store Santa scene. You spend the whole first act wondering how they could pull it off or even if they'd bother trying. Rest easy, purists, it's there, cleverly streamlined but big and suitably tacky.

Like the film, the play isn't falldown funny. The script relies far too much on the repetition of one punch line - "you'll shoot your eye out" - which elicits increasingly dutiful laughter. It's a warm memoir, though, a solid play for the whole family and a present worth waiting for.