Newnan Theatre Company Presents THE SANTALAND DIARIES

Everyone has the joy of Christmas, no matter how "Scrooge-ish" one may be. But, there are those forgotten folks, the ones who provide all the spirit of the holidays. Those forgotten angels we know as "retail workers. " And those people tend to have a whole different view of the Christmas season. In Dave Sedaris's The Santaland Diaries, presented by the Newnan Theatre Company, we get to hear one of those "retail experts" as he takes us through a typical Christmas season.

Sedaris's story is a semi-autobiographical, and very funny, tale of the Christmas season he spent working at Macy's in Manhattan, spending his days and nights as an elf in Santa's Village, escorting hundreds of children every day to meet Santa and sit on his lap while having their portrait made. Being an out-of-work actor, Sedaris thought the job would be a breeze, playing a part as realistically as possible, to make every child's dream of Christmas and Santa come true. Nobody told him, though, about the kids who are taken over by Santa-phobia when they are face to face with Old Saint Nick, or the ones who, shall we say, cannot keep their lunch down along the path through Santaland. Nobody told him about the parents who flip out if Santa takes a break "to feed his reindeer" when they are the next person in line. And nobody told him how much he would come to enjoy his lunch break, where a thermos of martinis and a Tupperware box of olives became his best friends.

Jeff Allen takes the role in this one-man show and loves portraying the lost angel of Santaland. "This show is such a fun show," he says. "Everybody tends to think of retail employees as invisible. Here though, we get to find out just how it feels to be considered invisible. The audience gets to hear just what some employees feel and say about THEM, rather than the other way around."

Director Tony Daniel also enjoys the message of this show. "In essence," he says, "our audiences hear Jeff tell the story, going through all the trials and tribulations of being a retail worker during Christmas. They get to laugh at themselves as well as the story, but the story might make you take an extra moment during your Christmas shopping and just shake an employee's hand, tell them thank you for putting up with all they have to do, and maybe, just maybe, the show will make those employees a little less invisible."

Newnan Theatre Company presents the hysterical one-man show The Santaland Diaries in the NTC Black Box arena. The show has a special schedule, running from Wednesday to Sunday, December 14th through December 18th. Show times are at 8 pm, with the Saturday, December 17th show starting at 9 pm, and the Sunday, December 18th starting at 3 pm. Tickets are on sale now through the Newnan Theatre Company website, www.newnantheatre.org , or by calling NTC at 770.683.6282. This show does have mature content and might not be appropriate for all viewers.

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