It’s Christmas-on-Orange

The holiday vibe that settles over Shakespeare Orange County’s annual “A Shakespearean Christmas” is one of simplicity and caring. This no-frills show has the unpretentious charm of a Christmas get-together with friends eager to share.

Even when it turns goofy, like at the end with the self-admitted silliness of the “act-along” to “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” the indulgences and missteps must be forgiven. The production inspires generosity, just like the season.

Now in its sixth year, “A Shakespearean Christmas” hasn’t changed much, offering a mix of readings and songs, all directly or indirectly evoking this time of the year.

With a company called Shakespeare Orange County, you’d expect the Bard to figure big-time. The nine-person cast reads from his sonnets and from “The Merchant of Venice,” “Twelfth Night,” “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It’s all rather unadorned, just the actors seated in a semicircle, backed by three large Christmas trees and several huge paper lanterns.

Eve Himmelheber sets the tone by embodying the romance-soused Juliet as she trills about her Romeo. The holiday connection here is clearly about love, love, love . . . and the liberating passion it can bring.

But Shakespeare isn’t the only focus. Clement C. Moore’s classic “A Visit From St. Nicholas” receives a spirited reading, as do writings of Charles Dickens, Robert Frost and Samuel T. Coleridge. To toss a little acid on the sugar, curmudgeonly Ogden Nash is represented with his grinching “Santa Go Home.”

Himmelheber is a standout, both for her readings and singing (“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” are among the musical offerings), but she’s not alone. Carl Reggiardo brings a deep baritone and weightiness to his moments in the spotlight, and Chris DuVal is a sly, understated comic presence. Peter Westenhofer reprises his giddy tap-dance to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

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A newcomer is Tamiko Washington, who provides one of the night’s most poignant passages. She hobbles to the microphone, reinvented as a slave who evaded her masters by hiding in an attic for several years. From her confinement, she watches the Christmas festivities and recounts them for us.

As for the show-closing “act-along,” well, it’s a jarring finale, only because what has come before is much more soft-focused and relaxed. But the audience seemed to enjoy it, and who can argue with that during the holidays?

* “A Shakespearean Christmas: A Christmas Anthology,” Shakespeare Orange County, Chapman University’s Waltmar Theatre, 310 E. Palm Ave., Orange. Tonight at 8. $20 and $16 (seniors, students and children ages 5-12). (714) 744-7016. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

A Shakespeare Orange County production of spoken selections taken from writings by William Shakespeare, Samuel T. Coleridge, Clement C. Moore, Charles Dickens, Ogden Nash, Robert Frost and others. Directed by Michael Nehring. With Chris DuVal, Eve Himmelheber, Wesley Hunt, John Fredrick Jones, Michael Nehring, Carl Reggiardo, John Shouse, Tamiko Washington and Peter Westenhofer. Set: Craig Brown. Lighting: Paul Dedoes. Stage manager: Julia Stormont.