A ‘Night’ to Remember – Playmakers celebrates 30th anniversary and prepares for innovative family fare

‘Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…” is how the tale goes. But in Playmakers of Baton Rouge’s version, characters are encouraged to stir all they want—it’s how the sets change. This month, Playmakers is presenting Ken Ludwig’s ’Twas the Night Before Christmas.

“This will be the regional premiere,” says Karli Henderson, former managing director of Playmakers, now at Swine Palace. “It has only been produced one other time. [Ludwig] has written lots of shows, but this is not your traditional ’Twas the Night.”

Historically, the tale comes from the children’s book A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore, which was adapted several times into literary variants. Ludwig, however, typically writes plays for adult audiences, such as Shakespeare in Hollywood and Crazy for You.

His ’Twas the Night is a new take on the classic tale that follows a little girl and a mouse whose mission is to save Christmas. “They go on an adventure together,” says Todd Henry, education director of Playmakers. “There are a lot of great elements where actors create and recreate parts of the set. That’s a very big trend right now in theater, where actors become part of the set. It really is theater when you can use your imagination.”

Playmakers’ new season is no exception when it comes to imaginative productions—the organization is celebrating its 30th year creating innovative family shows.

“One of the most challenging things for [’Twas the Night] is that we have three locations: a home, the North Pole, but we also fly there with an airplane,” says Shawn Halliday, artistic director. “We are looking at some moving parts to our stage, which is going to be fun. We’re at the Reilly [Theatre], so all of our scene changes are going to deal with either hand-moving parts or motorized [parts].”

Halliday says the production is a true team effort. “My job is to make sure everyone [involved with] the show is working well together to tell the best story we can tell,” he says. And, after the best story, to all a good night.