Sly Raftery stands tall as wicked elf in poignant 'Santaland'

Christmas is a holiday, a season, and even a state of mind, but above all, it's a show -- one that has never been quite the same since a little gay man named David Sedaris took us backstage in "Santaland Diaries," the bitterly funny tale of his sad travails as Crumpet the Elf in Macy's Santaland.

As adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, "Santaland" has actually become something of a Christmas anti-tradition, an acidic spritz cutting the sugar in the holiday punch. In fact, Boston has already enjoyed a fabled version by ubiquitous local star John Kuntz. But Kuntz is serving up holiday jeer elsewhere this year (in the hilarious "Fully Committed" at the Lyric Stage), so "Santaland" has been revived by Chelsea's feisty TheatreZone, with local theater's latest up-and-comer, Rodney Raftery, in the pointy hat and booties. If there's any doubt that Raftery has the chops to dispel the ghosts of Kuntzes past, however, they're laid to rest within the first few minutes.

For while Kuntz was a manic powerhouse, Raftery is a sly (even shy) raconteur; his sweet, deadpan sincerity belies killer skills as a mimic and a wicked sense of irony. Of course, he's appalled by such Yuletide crimes as parents slapping their children on Santa's knee, or demanding a "traditional" St. Nick ("You know -- a white one!"). But this dyspeptic elf isn't out to get mad; he's out to get even. So when a customer hisses, "I'm going to have you fired!," Crumpet whispers back, "And I'm going to have you killed!" In his spare time, he reassembles "Santa" into an anagram for "Satan," and when children express disappointment with his "Magic Window," he tells them to look a little harder and maybe they'll see Cher.

If all this is true, it's hard to believe Sedaris hung onto his job -- except for the fact that most of Santaland is equally Christmas-dysfunctional. The Santas themselves ("Santa Doug," "Santa Jerome") are a motley crew, while several elves don their gay apparel in more ways than one (unsurprising given they're unemployed actors); one of Sedaris's funniest riffs concerns the flirty Snowball, a little tease in tights who lures Crumpet to the changing room -- only to discover half of Santa's workshop already there, hoping for their own little Xmas.

Such moments sent a ripple through the crowd in Chelsea (it's not the South End, after all). But Raftery blithely powered on, and by the time he wailed, "Snowball is playing a dangerous game!" or launched into a spot-on Billie Holliday cover of "Away in a Manger," the crowd was howling happily along.

Alas, "Santaland" itself eventually succumbs to some ersatz holiday spirit, and its delights, though spiked, are fairly slight. What's new about the TheatreZone version, however, is its surprising poignance; Sedaris, like most of us, can't bear to give up on the illusion of good will even as he drives a stake of holly through its duplicitous heart.

Although speaking of illusion, it's really too bad that TheatreZone couldn't deliver a little more sticky holiday glitz for Crumpet to cavort in. Still, under Danielle Fauteux Jacques's solid direction, Raftery dispels all such unseasonably spirited caveats, and gives "Santaland" its required Yuletide-cyanide sparkle.

Santaland Diaries
Written by David Sedaris
Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Set, Julia Noulin-Merat. Costumes, Susan Paino. Sound Design, Jamie Alley. Presented by TheatreZone.
At Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea, through Dec. 26. 617-887-2336.