The stories of two Iolani students will be brought to life in a production that features Christmas tales told through the eyes of children.

Honolulu Theatre for Youth's "Christmas Talk Story" show has traditionally featured monologues by local writers, but only rarely has student writing been selected.

This year, under the direction of Eric Johnson, who is new to the theater group, "Christmas Talk Story" has taken a new direction.

Not only does it include two student pieces among the nine stories, but the one-act play has moved from a series of monologues to pieces that sometimes use all three actors to tell the tales.

Johnson hopes that in future years, more students will be involved, not just with the stage performance but also when school groups come to see the production.

He said that in the case of the two stories included this year, the student writing stands up well against that of the established writers. The students' works "were just some of the best submissions," Johnson said.

About 60 stories were submitted this year.

Megan Chock and Sara Wynhoff, encouraged by their teacher, wrote their stories for their junior English class last year. Both 17-year-olds said the experience has inspired them to want to write more.

The words in both stories stayed the same, but after catching a preview of her piece "Angel Wings" at a rehearsal on Wednesday, Sara said that "the way they acted it out really brought it to life."

The three actors — Daryl Bonilla, Nara Cardenas and Aito Steele — transition seamlessly between roles, genders and even species as they run through stories interspersed with Christmas music performed on various instruments and sung in English and Hawaiian.

Other writers for the production include T.C. O'Malley, Rochelle DelaCruz, Yokanaan Kerns, Diane Aoki, Linda Tagawa and Lee Tonouchi. Among his many roles, Bonilla acts out the monologue he wrote for the play.

Both Megan and Sara submitted works of fiction, but Megan's story about two sisters who learn a lesson about generosity at a Christmas Eve church service draws on real experiences.

She can't remember if she and her sister ever had to wear matching dresses to the Christmas Eve services that her family attends each year, but "there's been a lot of incidences," she said. And although the story is made up, the younger girl shares the same name as Megan's younger sister.

Sara's story, told from a boy's perspective, is more obviously fiction. Intrigued by the task of creating a play-within-a-play, Sara wrote a touching story with the goal of creating something " 'Christmassy' without a happy ending."

Both girls agree that Tonouchi's piece "Da Meaning of Talk Story" sums up what they were trying to achieve, along with the other writers who told stories about the joys of giving, the love of family and diversity in celebration.

"Christmas Talk Story" will be performed for school groups for the next few weeks, with weekend performances for the general public through Dec. 18.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.