Sitting on the floor of their darkened gymnasium, the students stared at a stage that harked back some 2,000 years ago. Suddenly, a bright-yellow sun popped up, revealing a lumpy object hidden under a blanket on a cot.

Next, puppeteer Marston Blow emerged with an orange cat, which crept up and pounced on the bed several times. As the students laughed, Lisa Sturz came out of the shadows, stuck her hand under the blanket and introduced the youngsters to Befana, an old woman who just awoke from a nap. In “The Legend of La Befana,” Befana is a beloved gift-giver much like Santa Claus.

Red Herring Puppets founder Sturz and Blow, a puppeteer, brought the Italian fable to Glendale-Kenly for a performance. “It’s really fun and very fulfilling because the kids are really loving the show,” Blow said. “You get to feel that.”

Befana’s journey is not an easy one. The tidy old lady receives a visit from three lavishly dressed wise men who are a following a magical star that will take them to the newly born Christ child. Befana declines an invitation to join them, but later decides to take gifts to the child. She sets out on her own, but is constantly led in the wrong direction. Her journey takes her across two oceans, several countries and into the stomach of a whale, which eventually spits her out.

Finally, Befana grows weary and comes to rest under a tree. “I’ve been wandering for years in search of this child,” Sturz says in a prerecorded soundtrack. “I am tired and sick with despair. Will no angel come to answer my prayers?”

Suddenly, a tree lights up, and the Glendale-Kenly students shriek with excitement. An angel with golden wings appears before Befana and proclaims that Jesus Christ is born. Befana’s tiredness magically disappears, and she sings “Hallelujah” all the way home. She takes the gifts and dispenses them to others once she is reunited with her beloved cat, Poofy.

Blow said the fable teaches students about different regions of the world and, more important, about the gift of sharing with others. “Goodness is in everyone,” she said. “Even at your darkest hour, there is light. You may search and search and search and not find what you are looking for. You may find an epiphany, which is basically what Befana means.”

After the show, Glendale-Kenly Elementary students had many questions. They wanted to know if Befana ever got to actually see the baby Jesus Christ, how the intricate puppets are made and where the music and voices came from (compliments of Sturz, composer Catherine Riley and a children’s choir). Also, the students were curious about shadow puppets featured in two projectors to make Befana’s traveling scenes look similar to a film.

“The heads of the main characters are carved in wood and the bodies are mostly made of wooden cloth,” Sturz said. “The tree I used to carve [Befana] had fallen the night before we started a show and I hadn’t bought the wood yet. It takes awhile to make them. Like when you are writing a story, you have to make it, pry it and change it until you are happy with how it works.”

“The Legend of La Befana” is one of many shows performed by Red Herring Puppets.

“I love this show because they are watching and following the story very intently,” Blow said. “It’s not a wild and crazy puppet show. It’s very sweet and interesting. Mystical almost that kids, even toddlers, are just staring with their mouths open just listening and watching.”