Yorkshire Playhouse 2017 Season: A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

by Mitchell Roush

The magic of theatre is unlike any other -- carrying with it the ability to create and share energy with another through narrative, characterization, and entertainment.

Tapping into that magic is the rare treat. This upcoming Christmas season, the Yorkshire Playhouse is re-imagining the beloved Ingalls family, an iconic family who most have previously only seen captured on the television screen.

This original play presents the poignant story of the "missing" two years in the life of the Ingalls family—the only substantial period that Laura chose not to write about in her Little House books.

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas grants us the chance to venture back into the world and the family that has grown to become an American fixture. After all, whose childhood hasn’t been touched by Little House on the Prairie?

In their poorest winter ever, the crops have been devastated by locusts and the family must deal with the death of baby Freddie.  Charles Ingalls backtracks his family to Burr Oak, Iowa, to take over the running of a hotel.  If things weren't bad enough, Ma tells Laura she must be nice to Johnny Steadman, "the worst boy in Iowa."  When wealthy Mrs. Starr asks for Laura as a companion to read to her in the afternoons, Laura is overjoyed to be invited into such a fine house.  When she overhears Mrs. Starr offer to adopt Laura as her own daughter to ease the burden of so many children, Laura is certain that Ma and Pa will give her up.  As Christmas morning approaches, Laura is faced with a decision: Will she choose what she believes is best for the family or will she find a way to stay with Pa, Ma, Mary and Carrie?

Told with period songs, humor and depth of character, A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas tells a story of healing that celebrates the importance of enduring family bonds and the true meaning of Christmas.  Introduce your children to an important family from your childhood while re-living the characters with which you connected in years past.