"Santaland Diaries" Is Elfin Good Time

"The Santaland Diaries"

Written by David Sedaris; adapted by Joe Mantello; directed by Wesley Savick; scenic design by Cristina Todesco; costume design by Molly Trainer; lighting design by Caleb J. Magoon

Starring John Kuntz as Crumpet

Performances: Now through December 31

Box Office: 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org

There are no visions of sugarplums dancing in John Kuntz's head during his 90-minute stint as Crumpet the Elf in David Sedaris' irreverent, autobiographical look at Christmas, "The Santaland Diaries," running now through December 31 Downstage at the New Rep in Watertown, Massachusetts. Offered as an intimate and decidedly less saccharine alternative to the New Rep's more sumptuous and traditional feast of "A Christmas Carol" performing concurrently in its upstairs main stage, Kuntz's manic and merry monologue of Sedaris' true adventures in Santa sitting is madcap fun from start to finish.

The vocally and physically nimble Kuntz takes his audience on a demented sleigh ride through the Macy's days of Christmas, mocking himself as much as he does others while vividly reenacting Sedaris' travails as a department store elf in New York City in 1996. Dressed in his too-cute-for-words uniform of candy cane striped tights, green velvet knickers and jacket, curly toed slippers, and pointy jingle belled cap, Kuntz acts out the eccentricities of a host of assorted Santas, fellow elves, parents and children who alternately inhabit and visit the styrofoam Santaland that occupies Macy's from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.

Kuntz's take on Sedaris/Crumpet is that of an urbane Garrison Keillor on Red Bull, growing from mildly irritated but controlled in the early days of playing Santa's helper to peevishly demonic by the time the last recalcitrant child has perched on the jolly old soul's well padded knee. Taking swipes at pushy parents, overeager co-workers, strange adult visitors, precocious youngsters, and even a female dwarf whom he accuses of "coasting on her looks" while working as a Pointer Elf, Kuntz unapologetically exposes the insanity of the season all the while still managing to find some shred of true holiday spirit buried beneath the avalanche of commercialism and cynicism that consumes the store's staff and visiting shoppers.

In "The Santaland Diaries" Sedaris demonstrates the brilliance as an observer and storyteller that would eventually make his books and weekly radio commentaries highly praised and wildly popular. He can turn a simple vignette about being good for Santa into an hilariously twisted nightmare that has the Man in Red punishing naughty children with losses so profound that they can't begin to imagine their future suffering. Kuntz gleefully takes Sedaris' narrations several steps further by adding wildly animated characterizations to the telling. The result is a one-man show that feels as heavily populated and madly frenetic as the old Filene's Basement used to be during the spring designer bridal gown sales day.

 

Broadway's Joe Mantello deserves a fair amount of credit for adapting Sedaris' oral essay for the stage. So does director Wesley Savick for keeping Kuntz's collection of vivid characters interactive and on the move. Pitch perfect seasonal songs also add to the experience, underscoring the many moods of Crumpet and his cohorts.

"The Santaland Diaries" is performed without intermission and is preceded by two short pieces written by Kuntz – "12 Days" and "Ronnie's Christmas Audition." Both display the same sardonic sensibilities that permeate Sedaris' work and set the stage nicely for the warped winter wonderland that is to come.

 

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