Arts
By Martin Brady
The Santaland Diaries
Presented by Tennessee Repertory Theatre
Through Dec. 23 at TPAC’s Johnson Theater
Call 255-ARTS for tickets
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’Tis the season, it would seem, for one-man shows. Well, at least two of ’em, anyway. Both opened this week past, both close this weekend coming, and both are notable.
The event with the greater civic impact is The Santaland Diaries, which kicks off the Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s new Off-Broadway Series designed to provide The Rep’s artists with a forum for alternative—but no less important—offerings from their regular work on the mainstage.
If you know humorist and NPR celebrity David Sedaris’ original essay upon which this piece is based, then you might come to the theater expecting a medium-sized cast taking on the roles of the wacky (or frighteningly serious) characters that inhabit it. At least it could have been done that way. But Joe Mantello’s adaptation of Sedaris’ 1994 essay about working as an elf during the Christmas season at Macy’s department store makes a nice choice in preserving the writer’s lone, drolly cynical voice throughout. Hence, we get a one-man performance by David Alford, who, taking on Sedaris’ persona, commands a modest but colorfully festive (read cheesy) setting that embodies elements of his character’s apartment as well as important spots at Macy’s Santaland.
Alford wanders to and fro—from his favorite sitting chair to the employee break room to the locker area where he keeps his elf costume—telling the tale of how dire financial straits led him to sign on for duty as one of Santa’s helpers. With an attitude that can only be labeled as sardonic, Alford lets us in on what’s really happening behind the scenes in Santaland, much like a political insider giving the straight dope on a candidate and his entourage. After his sobering initial interview, our hero takes on the elf name of Crumpet, then blows the lid off the entire scene.
Elves vie for the plum jobs; one of them is a masher, saying inappropriate things to kiddies’ moms. One Santa takes his role way too seriously. Crumpet himself takes great glee in deliberately steering concerned (read: race-conscious) white parents over to the black Santa, Jerome, then dares to describe with painful honesty the unadorned pathos of watching hordes of mentally and physically challenged persons line up to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. Crumpet also discusses the equally lame personal situations that have forced other poor souls to seek this kind of employment, dismissing out of hand the teenagers 15 years his junior and chortling with glee at downsized middle-aged business executives. Not surprisingly, Crumpet doesn’t stint in bemoaning his own plight as a wannabe soap-opera actor who wakes up one morning with his last $20 in his pocket.
There are big laughs in this play, and Alford pretty much gets them all. He lights his cigarettes languorously, moves easily among the playing areas, haphazardly tosses tinsel on faux Christmas trees, and bitingly makes fun of the world and himself. His performance—all completed in a single hour, no intermission—is cleanly directed by Rene Copeland, his confrere from Mockingbird Public Theatre. Here is a case where it’s gratifying to see The Rep draw upon local Nashville theater artists who are perfectly suited to the task at hand.
Interestingly, and probably not surprisingly, Sedaris’ way-out approach to humor is very much like that of his sister, Amy, an actress who cut her comedic teeth at Chicago’s Second City and who stars in Comedy Central’s weirdly offbeat Strangers With Candy. If you know the latter, then you have a bit of an idea of what to expect from The Santaland Diaries. It’s certainly not typical holiday fare, but that’s what’s great about it. And honestly, costume designer Lane Fragomeli’s elf shoes alone are practically worth the price of admission. So come all ye faithful. (Just be sure to leave the kiddies at home.)
The Rep’s next entry in the Off-Broadway Series will be The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Martin McDonagh’s Tony Award-winning drama about a complex mother-daughter relationship. It open Feb. 21 at TPAC’s Johnson Theater.
On Cabus! On Dickens!
If there’s one thing the Nashville-area holiday season has offered local audiences, it’s productions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Besides community theater stagings, there’s also a musicalized version starring television’s Jamie Farr at the Ryman through Dec. 24. But for ambition and actorly vitality, you’d be hard-pressed to see a more fascinating rendition than Mark Cabus’ one-man Christmas Carol, playing at the Darkhorse Theater through Dec. 23.
Now in its second year, Cabus’ tour de force has the makings of a cult classic, and it’s easy to see why. Along with Carolyn German, Cabus has efficiently adapted the Dickens story to his own unique, and quite considerable, talents. He segues skillfully from one scene to the next, etching out each character—some 30 in all—with amazing clarity. Perhaps most important, Cabus’ presentation includes healthy doses of narrative text from the original novella, thus offering us not only the familiar story itself but also a reminder of Dickens’ unsurpassed mastery of the English language.
The well-placed sound effects designed by James Gregory and David Henry, in addition to some ghoulishly evocative lighting effects by Chris Wilson, go a long way toward helping Cabus achieve his singular brilliance.
No surprise, this performance is certainly appropriate for young and old alike, though the decidedly literary bent of the adaptation may find the wee ones getting a wee restless.
Cabus and his production company Green Room’s next project is Henry 5X5, a joint effort with Mockingbird Public Theatre, to be presented in April at the Belcourt Theatre.