THE EIGHT: Reindeer Monologues
CRITIC’S CHOICE
Two weeks ago I recommended the Stage Actors Ensemble’s production of Jeff Goode’s one-act expose of Santa’s workshop, a cesspool of there ever was one. The production was funny, the performances ranged from pretty good to great, and Goode’s script as usual, was outstanding. But that staging pales by comparison to the version currently being presented by The Journeymen. Cofounder Frank Pullen directs, and he tackles comedy with the same originality and verve he brings to more serious fare, for which he’s better known. Where other theaters invariably treat Goode’s reindeer as just a parade of funny cartoon animals complete with voices, Pullen takes us to a higher level, filling the play with immensely talented non-Equity actors – Jerry Hlava, David Bryson, Courtney Evans – who deliver intense, fully realized characters. This choice deepens Goode’s comedy by revealing the dramatic subtext behind his laughs. I’ve seen at least six productions of this play over the years, and this is the first time I’ve felt a strong emotional connection to the eight reindeer and to the moral dilemma each must grapple with when Santa is accused of sexual misconduct. I’ve also never laughed harder.
Jack Helbig / Chicago Reader
2000
2002
Over the past eight years there have been lots of productions of Jeff Goode’s jaundiced reindeer’s-eye view of the goings-on as Santa’s sweatshop. And all these shows have been at least passably entertaining: Goode expertly combines a satirist’ surge to skewer intellectual and moral cowardice with a flair for nonstereotypical comic characters. But only Frank Pullen – who staged the play in 2000 and revives the Journeymen’s production now-seems to know how to make this Santa send-up both outrageous and touching
Plenty of directors over the years have gotten laughs out of the idea that Santa is a cruel, lecherous predator – “a sex crime waiting to happen,” as Cupid, the only gay reindeer, calls him. But a director with Pullen’s subtlety and finesse can reveal the complicated emotional underpinnings of this superficially glib tale. In one of the play’s more nuanced, moving moments, Donner reveals in passing that Santa’s most vocal defender – the macho Dasher – was not only aware of Santa’s transgressions but exerted pressure to restrain the jolly old pervert. Interestingly, the more honestly and seriously Pullen gets his cast to play their parts, the more hilarious Goode’s jokes become.
