Elves and murder during Christmas

The Valentine Theatre's Studio A Space has a way of making me feel at ease right after entering. This black box theatre, a more personal performance area, is where I saw two holiday-themed plays.

"Santaland Diaries" and "Season's Greetings" are shows that director Cornel Gabara, assistant professor of theatre at UT, blended together into one performance.

Both plays are adapted by Joe Mantello from stories by David Sedaris. "Santaland Diaries" chronicles the ups and downs of a young man working as a mall elf; "Season's Greetings" follows a housewife coping with holiday blues.

The storyline of "Santaland Diaries" and "Season's Greetings" called for the audience to be players in the show. Because the plays were based off of monologues, an abundance of movement to enhance the text was seamlessly put in to keep the audience's attention.

I expected there to be two actors, but I did not expect them to have little to no interaction.

It was two completely different monologues that related to Christmas. The acting was supreme and there was not a sliver of false commitment from either actor. The show never dragged or became boring.

Each actor had their own attributes that supported their character.

Pamela Tomassetti, star of "Season's Greetings," was laced with a contagious energy and slipped into the conscience of her character so thoroughly that I cannot imagine what type of person she is in her everyday life.

Tomassetti, dressed very nicely, came and spoke to every audience member during pre-show. It was hard to decipher whether she was just a hostess of the company or if the show, in a way, had already began.

Her interaction with the audience dissolved the fourth wall, creating a more personal performance. During intermission, she also served cookies.

Dave DeChristopher, a UT theatre professor and star of "Santaland Diaries," had an array of impressions, including a flirty elf, a ladies man, an artist, a manager, a collection of parents and kids, Marlon Brando, Richard Simmons and a foreigner.

In the middle of the show, I had a coughing fit which I apologized for to the audience, and DeChristopher handed me a bottle of water.

Simplicity took over this production and there was never too much or too little.

The simple set consisted of a table, a chair and a projection screen. Aspects of the design nicely accompanied the crudeness of both monologues, particularly the sounds and projections. "Santaland" was more involved with the set pieces onstage, while "Season's Greetings" only used the skirt of the stage; it would have been interesting to see what would have happened on a more dispersed set.

Everything fit well into the production. The sound effects never distracted and always contributed well to the scene.

Media is so weaved into society that an average, technologically savvy audience member doesn't have to have the longest attention span. The projection helped with that tremendously, although I initially doubted it would add much. I was proven wrong when certain projections of modern references appeared on the screen to reinstate phrases or words.

The experience was refreshing and just as light as it was deep. It worked on my imagination and was as funny as it was real.

"Santaland Diaries" and "Season's Greetings" will run Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $22, but $5 student rush tickets are available 10 minutes prior to the performance.