Beasley's Christmas Party

In the holiday chests of many households, nestled in jumbles of ornaments and lights, there is one special heirloom, to be given pride of place on the Christmas tree: an old painted angel, perhaps, with history in its chipped wooden wings, or a faded star that outshines any flashy electric bulb. Beasley’s Christmas Party is a bit like such small treasures. Adapted from a 1909 story by Booth Tarkington, this heartfelt fable is a sweet, humble gift to the season.

It’s the thoughtfulness that counts. Keen Company’s Carl Forsman doesn’t try to gussy up the story or disguise its literary origins. There are only three actors in the cast: Tony Ward plays the narrator, a newspaper reporter who moves to a new town; Joseph Collins and Christa Scott-Reed cover all the other parts, including a taciturn politician, his dreamy ex-fiancée and a young English invalid who makes Tiny Tim look like a bantam triathlete. The tale begins as something of a mystery story, but evolves—at a leisurely, fireside pace—into a touching exploration of imagination, loneliness and the virtue of kindness. In terms of dazzle, Beasley’s Christmas Party can hardly compete with White Christmas or the Rockette launch at Radio City. It gets its Christmas cheer the old-fashioned way: It earns it.