There are few times of year filled with such unabashed earnestness as Christmas. There is nowhere to escape the brightly colored lights, the overly jolly Santas, and the more than slightly terrifying Elves on Shelves. Luckily, the Peterborough Players has taken it upon themselves to provide a reprieve for those of us who find themselves allergic to caroling. The cure? Their production of The Santaland Diaries.
Helmed by Kraig Swartz and written by David Sedaris, The Santaland Diaries takes a humorous look at the job of working as an elf at Macy’s during the holiday season. It is mean spirited, rude, and everything that Christmas isn’t supposed to be, which is what makes it such a delight. This play is for everyone who has ever groaned at the thought of Mariah Carey, and who avoids any and all claymation throughout the month of December.
Ultimately, a play this acerbic wouldn’t work without an airtight script, and that has been handily provided by David Sedaris. The script toes the line of bad taste throughout, somehow always managing to come out in the right. One of the ways that this is managed is by turning the commentary mainly back onto the adults in the room, and shying away from ridiculing children (although some brats get their comeuppance too.) Parents are shown no mercy by Sedaris, who goes into much depth about how parents are racist, mean and more often than not, rudely cantankerous. Sedaris’ fellow employees get just as much grief, as he turns on former flirtations and destroys starving artists. Anyone and everyone is weak under Sedaris’ wit and sarcasm.
But good writing is nothing without delivery, and Swartz turns in an unsurprisingly fantastic performance. It’s no easy task to perform a one man show without the audience getting bored, but Swartz is more than up to the challenge. His voice seems to span eight octaves throughout the play, and as far as his physicality is concerned, I’ve never laughed so hard at someone getting dressed. Most impressively of all, the performance has an intimacy that makes it seem like the story that Swartz is telling, is being told to each audience member individually. To the audience, Swartz is simply the funniest friend we know, telling the story of his worst job.
Ultimately, The Santaland Diaries is an impressive feat of both writing and performance. And most thankfully, a sanctuary from that communicable disease that most refer to as the Christmas spirit.