The Christmas season affects us all in different ways — some treat it like Stampede and endeavour to get as far away from it as possible, while others embrace the festivities. If you tend toward the latter, then Broad Minds Productions’ Memories of a Christmas Ornament will trim your tree.

Broad Minds Productions, with founder and artistic director Tarra Riley at the helm, starts off its seventh season in fine form with a warm-hearted musical, penned by celebrated Calgary playwright Maureen Rooney. The show has been performed across Canada for 17 years. Memories is a perfect fit for the young company’s mandate to promote the voices of strong, artistic women within the Calgary arts community.

Memories is told through the eyes of a treasured Christmas ornament that the other actors cannot see or hear. The audience is transported through time as Christmases pass and the decoration, which views itself as the story-holder, recounts memories of its owner during each period it is out of the box.

The musical smacks of sentimentality, and that is exactly what Rooney was hoping for when it came to life in 1990. “I think Christmas is a time to be sentimental without feeling shame,” she says. “Memories of a Christmas Ornament is a celebration of enduring love.” Pick up some tissues on your way down to the Pumphouse Theatres and let the sentiment flow.

Memories of a Christmas Ornament runs until December 22 at the Pumphouse Theatres.