Stage Review: Sedaris' 'Diaries' pull laughs from Santa's sack

As Crumpet the elf, David Foster does a gleeful upending of previous interpretations.

It has been nearly 17 years since humorist David Sedaris gave his testimonial on NPR about taking on "one of the most frightening career opportunities I have ever come across."

As Crumpet the elf, David Foster does a gleeful upending of previous interpretations.

His droll account of portraying a costumed elf in Macy's "SantaLand" launched his career as a best-selling author. Sedaris has since sold more than 7 million copies of his various books and is one of the few authors whose readings pack halls the size of the Cannon Center.

People still relate to his Christmas story. Nearly everyone has been forced to fake it through the holidays at some point, whether it's putting on a happy face for the in-laws or trying to set the perfect example of the Christmas spirit in the midst of high yuletide dudgeon.

Working in SantaLand, Sedaris donned the elfin cheer every day for a month. The closer he got to Christmas, the less jollity he had on tap and the more aware he grew of the utter obnoxiousness of some parents jockeying to get their kids in front of Santa.

In 1996, a theater company in New York first staged the essay as a one-man play. And in 2001, Playhouse on the Square gave it its first Memphis staging at TheatreWorks. Since then, the company has revived it several times with different actors.

With all due respect to the gents who previously set a high bar, the current production of "The Santaland Diaries" at Playhouse on the Square, directed by show alumnus Dave Landis and starring David Foster, is possibly the funniest version to date, and certainly the best night of live theater you'll have this holiday season.

Set in Playhouse's Memphian room, the show begins just past the ticket window. A snooty elf makes audience members wait in line behind a velvet rope as he unhurriedly ushers them to their tables. Other elves work the room selling cocktails and wine. Think of a nightclub setting, only the servers are a little too self-aware of their uniforms.

Landis has integrated the "server elves" into the show, and even though the script is a solo performance, this version has the energy and excitement of an ensemble work.

Judging by some of Foster's past roles — Roger Hopewell from "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" and Carmen Ghia from "The Producers" — one might assume he'd be perfect for the manner of Sedaris' arch, gay elf named Crumpet.

But Foster's take on the role is surprising. He enters the room with the Cheshire grin of someone who has a great story to tell. His excitement — glee even — is infectious. He uses the entire room as his stage, bounding through the seating area and playing lines off of audience members and fellow elves.

Compared with Foster's dynamic physicality, previous actors to take on the role seem low-key in memory. They obviously took their cues from Sedaris' own deadpan style of delivery.

But Foster has upended the role for himself and for an audience that he's right in the midst of. He's like the guy at a Christmas party holding court in the kitchen at midnight with a story so good it's impossible to step away from it.

There's no better way to see "The Santaland Diaries," and whoever follows Foster will have big, pointy shoes to fill.

'The Santaland Diaries'

Continues 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 22 at Playhouse on the Square, 51 S. Cooper. Tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for seniors and students and $10 for children. Call 726-4656.

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