Joy to the Words : Theater review: Shakespeare Orange County is naughty and nice in a literate ‘Midwinter’s Night Dream.’

ORANGE —  With the theatrical overabundance every Yule season of anachronistic Santas, cutesy elves and overly family-oriented entertainments, it’s always a pleasure to relax to the unusual and very often enlightening Christmas program from Shakespeare Orange County.

Don’t let that statement give you the wrong idea. SOC’s “A Midwinter’s Night Dream,” subtitled “A Shakespearean Christmas,” is suitable for families with kids--as long as they’re bright kids.

The material ranges from, naturally, Shakespeare and Samuel Coleridge to Dickens, the Gospel of St. Luke and such irreverent moderns as James Thurber, E.E. Cummings and Ogden Nash.

Performed in Chapman University’s Waltmar Theatre by a highly festive and accomplished ensemble of eight, most SOC veterans, the evening seamlessly weaves thoughts about the holiday, both pro and con, but mostly pro.

Clement Moore’s “A Visit From St. Nicholas” and the 1897 letter from the editor of the New York Sun to a little girl, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” leave no doubt about the validity of the legend.

Even curmudgeons such as Thurber and Nash put it all down with tongues in their Christmas pudding-stuffed cheeks.

As always, the delight of the program is the giddy, buoyant wassailing trip of Dickens’ Mr. Pickwick and his tipsy troupe to the Wardle hearth, preceded by Chris DuVal’s dark recital of an actual recipe for a wassail bowl. The authentic drink was enough to cow the strongest man.

DuVal is the imp of the company, dead serious when need be, but usually with a twinkle in his eye. Craig Fleming, the most minuscule Santa to free-fall a flue, can also ring his voice out in the program’s often elegant texts, as can Carl Reggiardo, whose rich delivery brings solidity to even the most quivering of the evening’s emotions. Daniel Bryan Cartmell, who accompanies most of the singing on the guitar, and John Shouse give the staging breadth and stature.

Director Michael Nehring is almost as impish as DuVal, and one of these seasons he might even finish “Rose’s Turn” from “Gypsy,” instead of sneakily leading the audience into helping out with “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The women are the versatile Eve Himmelheber, once a queen of the Bard, then a World War II band singer with a haunting “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and Liz Maher, whose brash and often edgy tone adds rich shadings.

Reading off and on from behind red and green festooned music stands, at other times performing downstage, the group is simply having fun--highbrow and lowbrow. In the end it’s just the sort of romp a very happy family might have with words of wisdom that shine like that legendary star.

* “A Midwinter Night’s Dream: A Shakespearean Christmas,” Waltmar Theatre, Chapman University, 301 E. Palm St., Orange. Saturday and Monday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Ends Monday. $16-$20 (includes dessert). (714) 744-7016. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

A Shakespeare Orange County production. Directed by Michael Nehring. With Daniel Bryan Cartmell, Nehring, Carl Reggiardo, Chris DuVal, Eve Himmelheber, Liz Maher, John Shouse and Craig Fleming. Scenic design: Craig Brown. Lighting design: Stacey Ribiero. Stage manager: Julia Stormont.