‘SANTALAND’ is coming to town Penobscot Theatre’s take on Sedaris Christmas rant features an amped-up elf with a real yule ‘tude

Joye Cook-Levy and Nathan Halvorson met 20 years ago in Sioux City, Iowa. She was painted green; he was painted red.

“We were in a community theater production of ‘The Hobbit.’ I was Gollum, and he was Smaug,” recalled Levy. “We’ve been friends ever since.”

Though their friendship has lasted all those years, and both have gone onto bigger things in their theatrical careers, the pair has never worked together as actor and director. Until now, that is, as Levy is directing Halvorson in the Penobscot Theatre’s production of David Sedaris’ “The Santaland Diaries,” which is touring the state before coming home to the Bangor Opera House on Dec. 15.

“Santaland” is Sedaris’ bitterly funny, anti-Christmas account of a season spent working as an elf at Macy’s department store in New York City. It was adapted into a one-man play in 1996 and has since become a holiday staple of theater companies around the country.

This is the second year the company has produced the show, offered this year in repertory with “Peter Pan” and in place of its old holiday offering, “A Christmas Carol.” It offers a more, shall we say, misanthropic look at the Christmas season.

“I think the greatest thing about it is that people have a choice for their holiday fare,” said Levy. “They can go see something very heartwarming, like ‘Peter Pan,’ or if they can use a little cynicism, they can have that with this.”

Penobscot Theatre producing artistic director Scott R.C. Levy (husband to Cook-Levy) took on the starring role last year as Crumpet, Santa’s least favorite little helper, and he played it as an angry, chain-smoking, booze-swilling grouch. This time around, Halvorson’s Crumpet is a little less grumpy, and a little more bitchy. OK, a lot more bitchy.

“Scott was grungy and rough around the edges. He was gruff,” said Levy. “Nathan is the cocktail-swinging, nasty-talking elf. It’s a lot closer to Sedaris’ original vision. It’s completely different.”

“I have to be me,” added Halvorson. “My Crumpet is a little more amped.”

The success of the Penobscot Theatre’s touring run of “I Am My Own Wife” last year led to requests from the communities it visited to take another show on the road. “Santaland” will play at 8 tonight at Johnson Hall in Gardiner, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Camden Opera House, at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Stonington Opera House and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Grand Theatre in Ellsworth.

“People wanted us to come back with something. People crave performances like this,” said Levy. “We were in Houlton last weekend, and there were women in the front row falling out of their chairs laughing.”

The material in the play is a little racy, though not excessively so – expect some F-bombs – meaning that it’s not appropriate for kids but would probably work for the average 17-year-old.

“It’s kind of exciting to say it’s for adults only, but I think a lot of teenagers would probably be fine with it. It’s funny for everyone,” said Halvorson.

After all, regardless of whether you’re 18 or 80, one can only take so many renditions of “Jingle Bells” and mounting credit-card debt before one gets (to quote another famous Christmas crank) a little bah humbug.

“We all go through the holidays, and a lot of us get burnt out,” said Halvorson. “This is a chance to hear someone say those things that we’re all thinking, and then you can go back to those Christmas lists and fruitcake.”

“The Santaland Diaries” starts at the Bangor Opera House on Saturday, Dec. 15, and runs through Dec. 23. Check www.penobscottheatre.org or call 942-3333 for show times. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.