"The Santaland Diaries” by David Sedaris is about the time when he was in his 30's and out of work, had to suffer the indignities of taking a job as an elf at the Macy's Santaland in New York City. The tale was first performed as a monologue by Sedaris on National Public Radio in 1992. This production was presented at the Alley Theatre. The theatre was big and it was a square, the audience surrounded the stage from all of the four sides. Majority of the audience were in their 30's to 60's, with mixed diversity. Unlike the other plays I have seen, this play has only one cast member named Todd Waite (Crumpet). He does an amazing job performing the whole play. It felt like he was directly speaking to me. Crumpet’s costume was modern and casual at first, and then he changed into a velvet bright green elf costume for the rest of the play. The set is a square, anchored at one corner by a giant red Christmas ornament, at another corner by a giant Santa, and at another by a chair into which an exhausted Crumpet crumples at times. There’s a side table which has water, milk and cookies. The lighting didn’t have any special effects. The lights would go off when they had to do a scenery change and also when a recorded voice turns on. There were sound effects and it was Christmas music. It played in the beginning of the play and a little bit towards the end as well. Also, there was a recorded voice of a lady throughout the play. For example, when it was Crumpets break time the voice would come on and let him know.
I was impressed by this play because it was a one man play. I expected more cast members but even with one man Waite managed to keep the play live, energetic, and it kept entertained and well as all of the other audience. Also, I loved his expressions, gestures, and body language. It was simply wonderful. The play was very comedic and the audience loved it as well, but there were some people who didn’t like the use of profanity.