Ledges Playhouse production exposes the nighttime activities in the North Pole

"The Eight: Reindeer Monologues"
Dec. 15 & 16
8 p.m.
Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St., Lansing
$15
(517) 649-3978
 

Good tidings and joy are springing from every corner this time of year - and it can get overwhelming.
The Ledges Playhouse Theatre Co. has a dark cure for the holiday mayhem that involves sexual harassment rumors swirling around Santa Claus' extracurricular activities.
Hold onto your mittens, kids, this is a play for adults who don't mind a bit of dark humor mixed in with their holiday cheer. "The Reindeer Monologues," by Jeff Goode, is chock full of adult language, sexual situations and unapologetic skewering of all that the holiday season holds dear.
Santa's annual journey through the night sky is eclipsed by a shocking scandal swirling around his workshop.
To the shock of the North Pole, Santa has been accused of sexual molestation.
The victim isn't a congressional page or a choirboy - she's a famous doe named Vixen, whose allegations are sullied by her own unsavory reputation.
One by one, Santa's elite fleet of four-legged-flyers, all played by actors, trot out to give the media their individual spin on the rumors - each delivering a monologue - hence the title.
As each of Santa's finest come out to give a version of the sordid tale, we gain a new understanding of Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and, of course, Vixen.
The audience is invited in for a "did he or didn't he" style whodunit of devilish proportions.
Kevin Burnham, artistic director of the Ledges Playhouse Theatre Co., was looking for something new and interesting for the theater's holiday fundraiser. He was challenged in finding a show that would work with the intimate setting of Old Town's Creole Gallery as well as accommodate the difficult holiday schedules of his actors.
"The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" provides the opportunity for minimal sets and individual rehearsal times, as well as the opportunity to bring something different to Lansing.
The play was written following Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' Senate confirmation hearings in 1991.
The sexual harassment controversy regarding him and University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill, his accuser, provoked a media frenzy unlike any that had been seen before. That inspiration allowed Goode to write about what would happen if Santa Claus, the ultimate good guy, was accused of something so heinous.
"Actors have really enjoyed working on this" Burnham says. "Some of them won't have the opportunity to see the whole piece until opening night."
This allows the actors to make their judgments about Vixen and Santa along with the audience.
There are no clear-cut answers in the end, and everyone will have to figure out for himself just who they believe.