Most Christmas stories burst with mistletoe, elves, carols and cheer. Generally, they steer clear of scandals at the North Pole.
Not this one.
Today and Saturday, Scranton's Vintage Theater, 326 Spruce St., will present "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues," a dark comedy for adult audiences set in the days before Christmas. Doors open at 7 p.m., and local band the Push will perform prior to the show.
Director Kimmie Leff described the play, written by Jeff Goode, as an atypical Christmas story. When one of the reindeer brings about an accusation of sexual harassment against Santa Claus, she said, "you don't know if the reindeer are going to unite and have the Christmas run on Christmas Eve or what's going to happen."
Reindeer games
All of the reindeer share their perspective on the situation in monologues and range from what Leff described as Santa supporters to those who have their own agendas.
"For Donner, it brings up a pain for him that he's tried to push into the past," she said. "It makes a lot of statements, and it's just absurd in the process."
Leff has enjoyed seeing the cast of five women and three men enjoy the script as much as she has. The cast members have done research about their reindeer, she added, and she loves something about each of their interpretations of the monologues.
In terms of the story, though, Leff enjoys Donner's monologue the most, noting it probably is the most uncomfortable of the eight.
Donner's story
"You want to hate him and be like, 'How could you have done that?' " she said. "But when you kind of hear his story, it's almost like you could sympathize."
Leff fell in love with the play after coming across it several years ago. It "definitely paints a different picture about Christmas and ... how we have traditionally thought of the North Pole," she said.
"It's just a diversion from the normal kind of fluffy, happy holiday stuff," she said. "It's kind of like it's good for the person who's not into Christmas. If you're having a hard time with the Christmas spirit, it's kind of a different perspective to give you, and it's just fun."