Thanksgiving is next week, which means in a little over a week the holiday season will begin. This year, however, the holidays come a little early at the Madison Repertory Theatre with their production of David Sedaris' 'The Santaland Diaries.' It is a sardonic little holiday comedy that takes a wry look at the holiday hype, yet still plays sweeter than a candy cane.
'The Santaland Diaries' is a one-man play based on David Sedaris' book of the same title, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello. It humorously recounts Sedaris' experiences as an elf in 'Santaland' at Macy's. As the play's narrator and sole performer, John McGivern gives the audience a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at a place where holidays, commercialism, hysteria and humanity collide.
Along with the text of 'The Santaland Diaries,' the play is bookmarked by John McGivern's own humorous Christmas stories. The curtain opens with McGivern using puppets to give the audience his own rendition of 'A Christmas Carol,' soon launching into a hilarious little tale about the Christmases of his childhood, as a small boy in an Irish-Catholic family in Milwaukee. At the end of his tale the curtain closes, and when it rises we are now in New York on the road to Santaland.
We are introduced to the narrator, who sees an ad in the paper offering work as an elf and laughs his way into an application. After getting the job, the narrator dons red and white leggings, a green coat, shorts, hat and the name Crumpet, becoming a resident of Santaland. The rest of the play is a series of stories that rely on David Sedaris' wit and McGivern's comedic timing. He goes from remarking about the attractiveness of an elf named Snowball to an explanation as to how elves do not 'dine,' they 'feed.' The narrator treats this fake winter wonderland as a place for anthropological study, teasing out the absurdity of Santa and elf power dynamics, the psyche of someone playing an elf and how an anagram of 'Santa' is 'Satan.' It is a dark but cheerful take on the mystique of the holidays.
The production ends like it begins, with John McGivern coming out on stage to tell another of his Christmas stories. This one is not about his childhood but about his adult Christmas experiences, complete with 88 Santa figurines, a two-foot dried salami and plenty of holiday good cheer. These added tales make this production special, as they lend some gravitas to the holidays and some weight to help anchor the rest of 'The Santaland Diaries.'
'The Santaland Diaries' is a fun play if you enjoy the holidays, if you hate the holidays or if you enjoy the idea of an elf smoking a cigarette. You could always go see 'The Nutcracker' for the umpteenth time instead, but that sounds kind of painful'Crumpet would surely agree.
