ah, the life of an elf

Above: Jason Parrish performs David Sedaris’ “SantaLand Diaries” at the Florida Rep through Dec. 31. Ask most actors to describe the Christmas play they’re performing, and you’ll likely hear adjectives such as “heart-warming,” “sweet,” “charming.”

Ask Jason Parrish to describe the Christmas show he’s performing in this month?

“It’s a deviant little thing,” he says.

“It’s not a normal Christmas play. It’s something else. Something off the beaten path. It’s something deviant.”

In “SantaLand Diaries,” a one-man show at the Florida Repertory Theatre, Mr. Parrish portrays a man who moves to New York City, certain he’ll be able to quickly land a starring role on a soap opera. But three weeks later, he’s still out of work, and

low on money. Out of desperation, and on a dare, he applies for a job as a full-time elf at Macy’s for the holidays.

The qualities of a good elf are: perky, good with children and willing to work hard.

“And (my character) David is none of those things,” Mr. Parrish says. “I wonder why they ever hired him to begin with. He even says, ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to provide grinding enthusiasm that Santa is asking for.’

And he says, one breath later, ‘I think I’ll be a low-key sort of an elf.’”

Based on a famous David Sedaris story, “SantaLand Diaries” was adapted by Joe Mantello for the stage.

“David Sedaris read his work (on “Morning Edition”) on NPR back in the ’90s, and it put him on the map,” Mr. Parrish says. “His books became popular.”

Popular is an understatement. His books became New York Times bestsellers; Mr. Sedaris has sold over seven million copies. The satirist also wrote essays for The New Yorker and Esquire magazine.

“SantaLand Diaries” was first produced on stage in 1996.

Mr. Sedaris has since said that he regrets giving the rights for his essay to become a play, but audiences love it.

“I saw a theater company in Columbus, Ohio, that put it on,” Mr. Parrish says, “and I said, ‘This play is absolutely brilliant. I have to do this one day.’”

Three years ago, he bought the script and promised himself that somehow, he’d perform it.

He’s been literally been carrying the play around with him for three years.

Last year, he saw a production in North Carolina by CATCO. When he returned to Florida Rep, where he works as an associate director, he talked with producing artistic director Robert Cacioppo.

“I came back and said, ‘Bob, it works. They did the play with no scenery, just a guy on stage in costume, sitting in a La- Z-Boy, talking.’”

Last year, the company put on a production of “Indian Blood,” an A.R. Gurney play that’s “vaguely about Christmas,” as Mr. Parrish describes it.

In previous years, they’d staged “Greetings,” and “My Three Angels.”

“You run out of good Christmas plays to do,” Mr. Parrish says. “How many times can you see ‘A Christmas Carol’?

“We were looking for our Christmas niche. We looked at other Christmas plays, but none were really great.”

They considered doing Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story,” but “it’s huge, it’s cost prohibitive.”

So they agreed to do “SantaLand Diaries.” Brian Maschka, who has stagemanaged at the theater before, makes his directorial debut with this production.

The show sold out even before it opened. So Florida Rep added an extra week of shows; “SantaLand Diaries” now runs through Dec. 31. It won’t be staged in the Arcade Theatre but in a new, small 80-seat theater down the hall that used to be the company’s rehearsal space.

Mr. Parrish had to memorize 26 pages of monologue, which, he admits, was daunting.

“I don’t sit around and just chat with you,” he says. “I’m up, moving around, moving presents, dancing around in my candy cane tights.”

Mr. Mantello did a great job turning David Sedaris’ essay into a 70-minute play, he says.

“A lot of it feels like dialogue. Most times, I’m talking to myself, but I play a lot of different characters in this piece. I step in and out of character. You meet lots of elves.”

They have names such as Snowball, Sleighbell, Gingersnap.

“There’s an elf I call Flakey, and one I call The Walrus is from Florida. He’s a redneck elf from Florida.

“You meet elves from all walks of life in SantaLand.”

And as for that elf costume?

“I feel ridiculous (in it).” But then again, David Sedaris is “never comfortable in his elf skin. But I wear it for most of this play. I think (costume designer) Roberta Malcolm has done a spectacular job: a nice, understated elf uniform. Green crushed velvet and candy cane tights.

“It’s very fetching.”

David Sedaris, he says, possesses his own off-kilter, sardonic way of looking at life.

“No one else does it like him,” Mr. Parrish says. “He finds the dregs of society and makes you laugh at some of the worst things. (And) he’s got this really honest and poignant and unique take on things.

“It’s not like any other Christmas play. It’s edgy, and adult, he swears a lot in this play. It’s just David Sedaris’s own brand of looking at the world. A really unique world view.” 

if you go

>> When: through Dec. 31; no shows Dec. 24 or 25 >> Where: Florida Repertory Theatre, in the New Studio Theatre, 2267 Bay Street, between Hendry and Jackson in downtown Fort Myers >> Cost: $38 >> Information: Call 332-4488 or go to www.floridarep.org