The Santa Claus Show ’23 – Pumphouse Theatre, 2 December 2023: Review

 The Santa Claus Show ’23 is a delight for children and adults alike. A play that Director Tim Bray wrote and first presented in 1991.

That was in the first year of the company that was eventually named the Tim Bray Theatre Company.

32 years is enough time for the original children’s audience to have grown up and returned this time with their own offspring. As is mentioned by Bray in the programme. He refers to his own two nieces.

Christmas stories are timeless. They are firmly part of the Folk tradition now in European countries and in those which make up the migrating diaspora which formed the New World. United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and special case South Africa.

Attending this show immediately spirals me back to childhood days of relative innocence. We sort of knew Santa Claus was an actor. We also had the freedom to fantasise and stage our own little plays. There was no sense of danger as there was no fear.

Young minds can range free, and boundaries are irrelevant. Growing older and the cynicism starts to fester. Cynicism can become despair.

I grew up to be initiated into the brotherhood of doctors. Being a front-line tradesman, I dealt with the extreme stress that descends on people at this time of the year.

Depression, the spike in domestic violence, the economic and social pressure. The mental breakdowns which become intolerable. I served as a police doctor for many years.

It is the most lucrative time of year for many retail businesses. It was for me too.

I think this production is therapeutic, and therefore necessary for the parents and other adults here.

And it’s a delight for infants to pre-teens in attendance, of course.

It has classic and instantly familiar story lines. But like all serious art, it is the interpretation that matters.

We first meet Elfie (Dylan Underwood) as the master-of-ceremonies. The big pointy ears signifies that he’s an elf.

Adults and older children may have connected with Disenchantment, the new cartoon from the Simpson’s creator which features Elfo, and who serves a similar function.

He brings to the stage about a dozen dressed-up children, and of course they come close to upstaging him.

Elfie looks like a blend of Jim Carrey and Hugh Laurie, and he loons around the stage in comic style. A mobile expressive face like Carrey. He easily keeps the young audience engaged.

The story then settles around junior schoolgirl Kelly (Erin O’Flaherty) and best friend Alana (Rebecca Ansell).

Kelly is clearly the alpha Mean Girl and leads their nativity fantasy acted out in her bedroom.

Both players are hilarious as they whip through this in the best Shakespeare-in-five-minutes fashion.

Kelly is the principal protagonist, as she gets to be chosen by Santa to visit the North Pole and accompany him on his annual pilgrimage.

Kelly is quite spoilt and a little entitled. Her wish-list for Santa is long and she expects it to be filled.

The uncomfortable unspoken nature of this is acknowledged without words. The greed is implied, even though she is a bouncy hyperactive bundle of skinny arms and legs.

O’Flaherty is wonderful in this role, which leads you to wonder if this is directly channelled from her ten-year-old self.

Her friend Alana is more conflicted, especially about the haves and have-nots. We do sense that the epiphany will happen with Kelly.

The restless children are surprisingly well-behaved. That is because the action is well-choreographed.

They may also regard the sign-language interpreter Kelly Hodgins as a stand-up comedy mime in her own right. It does seem to fit the production as such.

Little children keep whispering where is Santa? As anticipation builds.

Kelly is whisked off to the North Pole, assisted by Elfie.

Santa (Christian George) finally appears, to cheers and waves. Cleverly, he is the same actor who plays Kelly’s father. Dream and reality intersect.

Kelly does learn it is better to give than to receive.

The Santa Claus Show ’23 has the same message for the inner child in the adults as well.

Rev. Orange Peel 

The Santa Claus Show ’23
Playing through 22 December, 2023
The PumpHouse Theatre, Takapuna

Tickets are available HERE.

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