Working at Macy’s over Christmas made David Sedaris a household name—in NPR households, anyway. The gruesomely funny tale of his temp job as an elf in SantaLand, first broadcast in 1992, has become a seasonal staple on public radio stations. The SantaLand Diaries is now a holiday fixture on stage as well, adapted as a brief one-man play that re-enacts the misfit misadventures of a gay man with a subversive sense of the ridiculous.
Both Shakespeare & Company, in Lenox, and Hartford’s TheaterWorks have been mounting a new production of the show every December for the past few years, each time featuring a different actor in the role of Crumpet the Elf. This year’s rendition at TheaterWorks stars Jeff Cready (pictured above), playing against his usual leading man persona as the story’s self-deprecatingly nerdy protagonist. S&Co’s version—reportedly its last—features longtime company member David Joseph Hansen (pictured at left and below) finally getting his closeup.
At TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, through Dec. 23, 860-527-7838, info at theaterworkshartford.org.
At Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble St., Lenox, through Dec. 30, 413-637-3353, shakespeare.org.
