Bing Putney plays “Crumpet,” a struggling actor who takes on the role of a Macy’s department store elf with extraordinary zeal in Triad Stage’s adaptation of David Sedaris’ humorous holiday essay, The Santaland Diaries. The production runs from Nov. 20-Dec. 20. (courtesy photo)
Who among us hasn’t felt at some point in our lives just a little bit cynical about the holiday season? Even Charlie Brown railed against the commercialism of Christmas in Charles Schulz’s animated masterwork, A Charlie Brown Christmas.
In 1992, David Sedaris delighted NPR audiences with his hilarious retelling of his days as a Macy’s department store elf, a biting satire of the chaos and insanity that surrounds this special time of year. Triad Stage’s Jay Putnam has welcomed the challenge of bringing Sedaris’ words to life with his direction of The Santaland Diaries, which runs through Dec. 20 at the UpStage Cabaret venue of Triad Stage in downtown Greensboro. Putnam makes effective use of the intimate, 80-seat setting as the
production kicks off with the gentle melodies and soft-as-melted-butter
voice of pianist Miss Peppermint, AKA Jessica Mashburn, performing
“Please Come Home for Christmas” and “Silver Bells.” The audience might
be fooled into thinking it’s witnessing a lounge act at a Howard
Johnson’s but that quickly changes when Crumpet bounds onto the stage.
Mashburn
sits on a small, slightly elevated stage playing her piano. Sitting in
the spotlight, she welcomes the audience to the show. Putnam’s economic
use of the available space of the cabaret and creative set designs by
Christian Young add greatly to the telling of the story to the point of
becoming an additional character in the drama.
During the
performance, Bing Putney, who plays the role of Crumpet, unfolds each
set piece like he’s opening a Christmas present, and around each
corner, a surprise awaits the audience. Kudos to scenic designer Young
and stage manager Emily Malls for making the scene transitions
relatively seamless throughout. Mashburn’s sardonic selection of
Christmas songs in the musical transitions from scene to scene elicits
laughter and reveals the genius stroke of having a piano player in the
cast. After Mashburn warms up the audience, she is joined onstage by
Putney’s character. The audience learns that
“Crumpet”
is really his elf name. His real name is David and he proceeds to
recount the story of how he wound up auditioning for the role of a
Macy’s elf. Apparently, David came to New York
with the dream of joining the cast of the soap opera “One Life to
Live,” but he soon found those dreams in a scrap heap somewhere off 42
nd Street.
“A person needs a skill. Why didn’t I realize that
sooner?” Crumpet asks the audience. It is this kind of self-loathing
that is at the core of Sedaris’ humor, and Putney is most adept at
portraying a man who is struggling to find his place in the world. Down
to his last 50 cents, David answers a want ad in the New York Times that promises a fun, fantastic holiday experience.
“I
am a 33-year-old man applying for a job as an elf,” Crumpet proclaims,
drawing restrained laughter from the audience. Putney’s unmitigated
zeal and over-thetop sarcasm fits the tone of Sedaris’ work extremely
well. Putney is engaging, funny and highly attuned to the audience
response. If a joke doesn’t work, he quickly moves to the next bit
without the slightest hesitation.
On Opening Night on Nov. 20, the Santaland audience
at first appeared hesitant to laugh. Sedaris’ humor is not politically
correct and downright bawdy at times, but Putney’s physicality and
comic talents seem to communicate, “It’s okay to laugh,” and eventually
the audience was won over. No two performances should be exactly alike,
said Putney.
“I think it’ll be a different show every night depending on what audience walks through the door,” he said. Putnam acknowledges Santaland Diaries is
not a play for the whole family. Sedaris’ commentary is not a treatise
on the Christmas spirit, “but there is a little kernel of Crumpet’s
redemption,” said Putnam.
How Crumpet finds redemption and,
ultimately, his place in the world is the underpinning of the Triad
Stage production. The story progresses swiftly and as Christmas Eve
approaches, Crumpet sees the dark side of human nature in Macy’s
customers, confirming his worst beliefs about his fellow man. At one
point, a customer threatens, “I’m going to have you fired.” He
responds, “Well, I’m going to have you killed!” However, when all
appears lost, Crumpet manages to find something magical in Christmas,
and his transformation finally begins.
“What’s the message at
the end of it? What’s the journey that carries you along?” Putnam asked
rhetorically. “It’s a show that has a lot of cynicism to it, but
ultimately, I think it has a lot of heart.”
The cast and crew of Santaland Diaries puts
their hearts into the extremely difficult task of adapting a beloved
holiday essay into a play, and pull it off with warmth, generosity and
a large dose of the Christmas spirit.
