Santa Claus is coming to the Eureka Springs High School Auditorium.
The Eureka Springs High School drama department will host two performances of The Man Who Wanted to be Santa Claus at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 13. Teacher Donesa Mann said the play centers around a small-town police station.
“It’s like Mayberry meets Dragnet, because they’re trying to figure out a mystery in a hometown police office,” Mann said.
Mann described the plot of the play, saying a state investigator comes to see if the police department is operating efficiently. What he finds is a small-town police station that doesn’t meet his expectations, Mann said.
“They don’t follow all the procedures by the book,” Mann said. “Over a two- or three-day period, he gets to know what it really means to be a community, and he’s surprised by what he finds.”
It’s a comedy of misunderstandings, Mann said.
“We can see it, but he can’t see the motives behind the things he sees,” Mann said. “He’s kind of the brunt of the joke. They’re not trying to make fun of him, but he’s wet behind the ears.”
The play features several new cast members. For some of the students, it’s their first time being on stage.
“That’s always a fun thing, because I like to see them get into their roles for the first time,” Mann said. “We only have three seniors in the cast and a junior with a lot of experience. The rest of them are learning for the first time in some major roles.”
The moral of the story, Mann said, is to avoid jumping to conclusions.
“It helps us examine how we sometimes jump to conclusions and suspect people of wrongdoing when that’s not the case at all,” Mann said. “It’s just a feel-good holiday family-friendly play, and we have a little bit of music mixed in.”
Mann thanked the school administration for supporting the drama department and Jennifer Hatch for helping with the costumes and props. The play is sponsored by Equity Bank.
“They are giving us a generous donation so we could keep our ticket prices down and hopefully break even,” Mann said.
Tickets cost $10 for adults and $2 for students. They are available at https://osp.osmsinc. com/p/PD802-308.
