EDGE
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Eight: The Reindeer Monologues

by Beth Dugan
EDGE Contributor

I am a Christmas Scrooge, so I thought that "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" presented by Stage Left, at the Theater Wit, would be right up my alley. I mean, Santa is a creepy bastard if you think about it.

He sees you when you are sleeping; he knows when you are awake? Seriously? Ew. So the premise of the show, putting Santa on trial for sexual harassment, seemed interesting and just irreverent enough for my charred little Christmas spirit.

"The Eight" certainly embraces the modern idea that Santa is somewhat unsettling, has odd habits, like living with a bunch of slavish elves and partially domesticated caribou that have the power of flight, not to mention the creeping around your house at night, looking at your children, etc.

In "The Eight", Santa has been accused of raping Vixen. Each of the reindeer gets to talk to the audience about the accusations, their lives working for Santa, and their feelings for each other. The only reindeer who doesn’t make an appearance, the most famous reindeer of all, is Rudolph.

Apparently, he is not well liked in the reindeer community, and seen as something of a show-off. He and another reindeer that is talked about but never seen, Victor, are made conspicuous by their absence, as is the looming figure of Santa.

Though Santa is on trial for some pretty serious charges, he never appears, never speaks in his own defense, and is painted in a nasty light by the reindeer. There seems to be no love lost between Santa and his beasts of burden or between the beasts of burden themselves.

Actors playing Dasher, Dancer, Prancer (aka Hollywood), Blitzen, Donner, Cupid, Comet, and Vixen each wear reindeer antlers and have strong personalities, distinguishing them from one another. There is a black reindeer (Comet), a gay reindeer (Cupid), a show-off reindeer (Hollywood), and the slutty reindeer Vixen.

Playing on some stereotypes, the reindeer deliver their monologues well and engage the audience well. But when the last reindeer -- the accuser, Vixen -- come to the stage and states boldly, while vamping it up for all she is worth, that she was raped, the humor of the situation, the premise that this is a funny little holiday show, flies out of the theater. The word "rape" drops like a lead balloon into the midst of an audience that a moment ago was chuckling over some tongue-in-cheek joke about Santa and the holidays.

Taking into account the satire that is in the show, as well as the heavy-handed making fun of how the media, TV, and society as a whole treats sexual harassment claims (particularly against famous people), turning what is real pain into a circus for audience titillation, the bald accusation of rape by Vixen brings one thing home with finality: Rape is not funny.

This feels a little like a bait and switch. Here! Look at the funny things about the holidays! Oh, wait WHAM, here is someone who was raped by her employer.

"The Eight" attempts to be many things, and succeeds in some, but walking away from the show, I couldn’t remember what I had been laughing at earlier in the play, and my little shriveled Christmas spirit shriveled up a little more. Santa may be a creepy bastard, but rape is not funny.

"The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" continues through December 31 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont in Chicago. For more information visit http://www.theaterwit.org/


Beth is a freelance writer living and working in Chicago. Her work has appeared in Salon.com, TimeOut Chicago, Chicago Collection Magazine, Ducts.org, and many other places. She fears the suburbs and mayonnaise. You can read more about her work at http://www.bethdugan.com/