Beth Bradley tells the audience at the opening of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” that “The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world!”

Everyone in the town agrees.

But when Beth’s mother is reluctantly recruited to direct the annual Sunday school Christmas pageant, Beth must put up with the infiltration of the Herdman clan. All six of the unsupervised and undisciplined “horrible” Herdman kids will be in the pageant this year and that can mean only one thing: TROUBLE!

Whidbey Children’s Theater is presenting the beloved holiday show “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” and the play opens the day after Thanksgiving. The show continues its run through Dec. 10.

Martha Murphy, artistic director of WCT and the director of the production, says she always wanted to produce the play.

WCT likes to do several shows each year that include a large cast of adults and youth together on stage. This show appealed to her not only because of the big cast, but also because of its comedic brilliance and its transformative themes.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” written by Barbara Robinson in 1972, is the story of a family of incorrigible children who, when they hear about free refreshments at Sunday school, show up and subsequently get cast in the church’s annual Christmas pageant. The play embraces the Christmas-infused themes of love and compassion.

The early interactions between the Herdmans and the children, the staff and the community are indicative of the kind of prejudice we often see in society today, Murphy explained. But through the determination and love of the mother who directs them, everyone involved experiences a kind of metamorphosis based on the acceptance of others, no matter what their lot in life.

“The story is one of acceptance and transformation,” Murphy said. “The Herdman family of six kids are not unlike families in our society today. They are children with limited resources, little or no supervision, almost no enrichment and they, by necessity, have learned to fend for themselves.”

The cast features 28 adult and student actors, with many sibling and parent combinations.

Jodi Cable, who is making her stage debut as Mrs. Bradley, the character who is recruited to direct the pageant, is acting on stage with her son Coel, who is 10.

Coel has been on stage before, unlike his mom. And when asked why she chose this play to try acting, the actor’s mom spoke about the delightfulness of the play and what it does for her spirit.

“Expectations are always so high around the holidays,” she said.

“This is a chance for me to really get into the spirit and have some fun during the holidays with Coel,” she added.

Cable said she has very strong feelings about acting, however.

“I’m a little on the shy side, so I’m either having a lot of fun or I’m completely terrified,” she said.

Cable also said she thinks Murphy is an amazing director and has an natural ability when it comes to directing.

Eight-year-old June Bright plays Gladys Herdman, the youngest of the ragged Herdman clan.

This is Bright’s fourth production at WCT and probably won’t be her last.

“I just like acting and that you get to meet a lot of new friends,” June said.

Thunder Woodworth plays Ralph Herdman, the bad boy of the play.

Thunder said he is well cast as Ralph because, like Ralph, he has had his years of being in a “bad mood.” “But I grew out of it, just like Ralph does,” said Woodworth.

He also said he thinks Murphy is a really great director and that he’s glad he’s a part of WCT. And he said the twists and turns in the play will make it good holiday entertainment.

“Everybody thinks Christmas is going to go badly; that everything is going to go wrong. But everything works out in the end, just like it does in this play,” he said.

Murphy says the play is a perfect example of what WCT strives to do in the community.

“We are bringing children and adults together who otherwise would not know one and other,” she said.

Murphy emphasized that there is a real sense of teamwork and, just as in the play, there is a process of transformation as individuals and as actors which leads to this special piece of art, which is the final production.

Murphy recalled seeing the play in the early ‘80s when is was staged at the Seattle Children’s Theater.

She was working in the Langley dental office of Dr. Prael, who treated his staff to an evening of theater as a Christmas gift. Murphy fell in love with the show then and vowed she would produce it one day at WCT.

That day has arrived and what is even more special for Murphy is that Dr. Prael has generously offered to sponsor the show. He is bringing his current staff to the show as a gift, just as he did many years ago for Murphy and her co-workers.

The show is suitable for all ages, though the theater discourages very young children and request no “babes in arms” out of respect for the audience.