Group presents seasonal stories at Sarasota’s Starlite

When there’s theater in the Starlite Room in Sarasota, it’s almost always from the Starlite Players, the group that created a theater out of an intimate upstairs space and has called that space its home ever since.

But with Starlite Players taking a break for the holidays, another area group, the National Holiday Theatre, comes to the Starlite Room with two different holiday shows, each playing for one night.

The first, on Wednesday, features Alan Brasington reading Dylan Thomas’ classic story “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” Thomas is best known for his poetry, but “Christmas in Wales” is a prose work, an anecdotal retelling of a Christmas past from the viewpoint of a very young child in a nostalgic and simpler time.

The next night, a group of readers will perform Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” a Sherlock Holmes tale about the holiday-season theft of a precious jewel and the strange place it is discovered.

Both evenings will include an adaptation of Shawna Dolansky’s “The Truth(s) About Hanukkah,” which takes multiple points of view about the Jewish holiday.

Each evening will include a holiday party, ticketed drawings for presents and refreshments.

The National Holiday Theater is a new group. This is just its second program. Its first performance was a reading of Ray Bradbury’s “The Halloween Tree” a couple of months back.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28-29, the Starlite Room, 1001 Cocoanut Ave., Sarasota. $17. 941-323-1360, nationalholidaytheatre.com.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Group presents seasonal stories at Sarasota’s Starlite."