Ryan Berard and Phillip Streva rehearse for the show.

The Iberia Performing Arts League will be staging the perfect play for the holiday season, with “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” premiering Friday.

The play is based on an editorial that appeared in the Sept. 21, 1897, edition of The New York Sun and has since become part of popular Christmas folklore in the United States.

The production is directed by 20-year-old Ian Bonin, who has been with IPAL for more than five years but is directing for the first time with the production.

“It’s been amazing but stressful,” Bonin said about the experience. “It’s been really educational of course, but it’s still basically what I expected.”

Bonin said the plot revolves around the editorial that circulated after a young girl wrote to The Sun about whether Santa Claus was real.

“It follows the storyline of the fictional family of which Virginia is the daughter,” Bonin said. “She has a father, mother and younger brother. They’re kind of poor, the father is scrambling to find work and facing discrimination because of their heritage and being immigrants.”

`“He’s essentially on a bender, he hasn’t grieved properly and has lost the will to live. Being given this assignment, he finds a new meaning in life.”

Rehearsals for the production began about six weeks ago, which is shorter than most productions. However, Bonin said that the small cast and 90-minute run time allowed for plenty of time to prepare before the curtains drop.

“I’m excited to show something that is a Christmas show but not sappy,” Bonin said. “There’s a lot of depth and drama to this play, and that’s really interesting.”

“Yes Virginia” runs from Dec. 6 through 15 at the Essanee Theater in downtown New Iberia. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. All tickets are $10 and are available online at brownpapertickets.com. They are also available at Delaune’s Pharmacy, the Daily Iberian and Allain’s Jewelry. For more information, visit ipaltheater.com.