“My Three Angels,” the current production of the Lemon Bay Playhouse, is a most unusual Christmas play. One expects to see angels, as the title suggests, and the director, Richard Blanchard, has cast three of them, along with a host of naive and wicked characters. The three angels, in this case, turn out to be hardened criminals on a work-release project, in the setting Devil’s Island, a French Colony located in South America at the turn of the 20th century. “The plot of ‘My Three Angels’ resembles a Dicken’s story where ‘good versus evil’ and things are not always what they seem,” explained Blanchard. An amazing tropical set depicts a store operated by shopkeeper Felix Ducatel, his wife Emilie, and his daughter Marie Louise. It’s Christmas, and a tiny, bedraggled Christmas tree appears quite out of place in 100 degree heat. The Ducatels find themselves in deep financial trouble and are likely to lose their business and adjacent home if mean cousin Henri, the store’s owner, decides to throw them out after auditing their books.

The kind, but weak shopkeeper, Felix, played by Dale Moore, lends credit to one and all, much to the dismay of his wife, Emilie (Ann Shaugnessy). Shaughessy has performed in three shows at LBPH and is an active member of their Readers Theater, a free outreach program where actors read scripts to local audiences. The couple’s flighty daughter Marie Louise Ducatel is played by Nancy Gibbs. Henri Trochard, the grouchy cousin who travels from France to reclaim his property, is played by veteran thespian, Nick Nichols who recently starred in “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “Rounding Third” in Boca Grande. Henri’s nephew Paul (Paul Mullen), is the suitor who plans to ditch love-struck Marie Louise for a wealthy heiress. Mullen majored in theater at FIU and has acted in dozens of plays over the years. Joyce Cleary, a former dancer who has acted in “Mousetrap” and Readers Theater, is the eccentric Mme. Prole who evades paying her bills. A small but pivotal role is that of the lieutenant played by stage manager/actor Mike Hilton who starred in the LBPH production “Barefoot in the Park.”