WILLIAMSTON, MI–Holiday shows come in all shapes and sizes. Some are sweet and saccharin. Some are serious and meaningful. Others are deeply steeped in tradition and holiday symbolism.

Then there is A Very Williamston Christmas, which spoofs all those things in a highly silly and deliciously fun manner. Written by Robert Hawlmark (an alias adopted in part so that the show can be dubbed a “Hawlmark original”), it manages to celebrate everything Williamston and everything associated with a Hallmark Christmas.

In it, Felice is living her dream as a hard-driving career woman in the big city of Lansing, unable to get away to her hometown of Williamston for Christmas year after year (it’s just so far away!) until her boss sends her on an assignment to buy out an antique store whose owners don’t want to sell.

If you’ve ever watched so much as a single Hallmark movie, you’ll be able to see the rest of the “plot” from even the far distances of REO Town. However, the predictability is half the fun, with the remaining laughs blooming from inside jokes, local references, and theater tropes breaking the fourth wall.

And, unless your heart is two sizes too small, laugh is what you will do throughout this show.

Directed by John Lepard, whose close relationship with the playwright gives him a free hand to adapt the show as it returns after a successful run two years ago, A Very Williamston Christmas succeeds in bringing joy and laughter to a season much in need of it. Lepard tunes into the satire, intelligently leading his actors into broad choices without ever pushing the satire into the realm of cruelty.

Instead, he shows clear affection for both Williamston and Lansing with even a dollop of love for the cliches and overly saccharine devices of Hallmark movies.

Dani Cochrane plays Feliz Navi with her real-life husband Nick Yocum filling in as the hometown hero love interest George Dodd, who has stayed in the small town and picked up professions ranging from plumber to bovine veterinarian. Filling out all the other female roles from mother to best friend to mysterious woman is Emily Sutton-Smith with Patrick Loos playing all the men including George’s son and father, Felice’s boss and fiancé.

Cochrane launches the wild sleigh ride in her downtown high-rise office with Alison Dobbins’ projections plastering the familiar Lansing skyline across the backdrop. On the phone with her mother, Cochrane paints the picture of a career woman clearly needing rescuing from her non-family-oriented dreams that take her away from hearth and home. And before your hackles rise too high, remember that this is satire and spoof, not a recommendation or endorsement.

Cochrane leans into the fun that is this parody, playing up every stereotype and winking broadly to the audience and her fellow performers. She fills the show with energy providing the audience with plenty of over-the-top tropes to giggle and guffaw at.

Some of the most fun takes place in her interactions with Sutton-Smith as they openly acknowledge the challenges of a single actor playing multiple roles—roles that require full costume changes with each character shift. Whether it is intentionally directed or spontaneous, their breaks from character as they laugh at the stage antics are delightful and raise the audience’s investment each time.

Yocum combines an aw shucks innocence with genuine likability. He masters wide-eyed expressions and forms genuine connections with each of the other characters. While he and his wife unsurprisingly display authenticity in their romantic connection, he also excels in his scenes with Loos as his son.

Loos and Sutton-Smith create broad differences in each of their characters, making up new voices, mannerisms and movement styles to go with the full costume changes. While Hawlmark initially has them playing their multiple roles in the traditional manner of other productions in this style, it soon crosses over to the realm of parody as the actors openly acknowledge their changing roles with running crew often assisting the changes before audience eyes.

Karen Kangas-Preston created iconic, rural Christmas costumes that the characters could quickly change out of—even while sometimes making it look difficult to generate greater laughs.

Props designer and scenic dresser Michelle Raymond vomited kitschy Christmas in every corner of the theater, perfectly communicating the show’s attitude and tone. Bartley Bauer was her partner-in-crime, creating stage pieces that could quickly rotate and provide multiple locations throughout Lansing and Williamston.

Sound designer Sonja Marquis and lighting designer Shannon T. Schweitzer tapped into holiday resources to make the show look and sound like the very conceit of Christmas.

Whether you love or hate Hallmark movies—or even if you’ve never actually sat through an entire viewing of one,–A Very Williamston Christmas promises to fill 90 minutes of your day with a joyful laughter that will likely leave you feeling better as you walk out of the theater than you did when you entered.