As middle school actors dragged the adult actors around the stage, cooing like pigeons or putting on thick New York City-style accents, the crew in the audience grinned and busted up laughing.

“It’s a very improv-based show,” actor Lenora Shoemaker said. “It’s so fun.”

She enjoys it a lot, but admits she is terrible at keeping a straight face. One of the big things she’s working on in rehearsals is not breaking character, even when she or her fellow actors deliver a hilarious new line.

“The Gift of the Magi” is a staple of Christmastime, a story about how a young couple, struggling to afford the perfect gifts for each other, sell off precious possessions to afford them, only to realize the gift they’re receiving is all but useless now.

Jessica Kemp and Dylan Duffy rehearse “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Pendragon Theatre’s take on the classic story adds a lot of humor … as well as pickle shops, pigeons and paperboys.

Director Laura-Jean Swanson said since the original O. Henry story is short, they’re adding a backstory for the main characters, new scenes and an over-story through the collaborative processes of improvisation and devised theater.

“Using the original text as source material and then allowing our talented students and artists to create their own personal and unique ‘Gift of the Magi,'” she said.

Production Stage Manager Courtney Knysch said this is a “brand new take on the story.”

It’s immersive, with audience interaction and sing-along Christmas carols.

Ruby Williams and Evelyn Zander with Director Laura-Jean Swanson rehearse “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

The play features Jessica Kemp as Della and Dylan Duffy as Jim.

Seven local middle schoolers play narrators, as well as side characters in the main plot — Isaac Evans, Ellie Henderson, Taika Mzese, Ada Popp, Lenora Shoemaker, Ruby Williams and Evelyn Zander.

Shoemaker said the story is really sweet and the characters are really clumsy. The whole experience is “bittersweet.”

Williams said the story was frustrating to read.

“It kind of annoyed me,” she said with a laugh.

Jessica Kemp rehearses “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday along with Taika Mzese. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

The two characters making sacrifices to bring the other joy, only to sell the counterpart to the gift the other was giving, made her wish the two communicated better.

Popp thought it’s still a “beautiful” story. Della thought Jim wouldn’t like her without her hair, but he still did. That was sweet, she said.

Evans tossed his thick long hair and lamented Della chopping hers off to sell. He enjoyed the cosmic irony of the play, though. He’s experienced a similar situation. One year, for Christmas, three portions of his immediate and extended family all got each other the same board game, so they each had multiple copies.

The theater has vacated its former location on Brandy Brook Avenue and the new theater on Woodruff Street is not quite completed, so the actors are “borrowing” three spaces for performances — the First Methodist Church of Saranac Lake, the Saranac Lake Baptist Church and the Arts Center Lake Placid Annex. This is part of the theater’s “Moveable Feast” series.

The theater also received a grant from the Saranac Lake Arts Association to help with some production costs.

Lenora Shoemaker rehearses “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

The play will be at the Saranac Lake Baptist Church on Wednesday at 7 p.m.; at the First Methodist Church of Saranac Lake on Thursday at 7 p.m. and at the Arts Center Lake Placid Annex on Friday at 7 p.m.

Tickets must be reserved in advance at tinyurl.com/4d8vxppz. There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door.

Ellie Henderson rehearses “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday, along with Ada Popp, Evelyn Zander and Lenora Shoemaker. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Isaac Evans rehearses “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Taika Mzese rehearses “The Gift of the Magi” on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)