theater

Recently, counter-Christmas celebrations have become just as important as Christmas ones, allowing people to take a break to laugh at the stress and commercialism of the holiday. One master of the anti-Christmas carol is humorist David Sedaris, whose 1992 essay "The Santaland Diaries" is rebroadcast on NPR stations every Christmas.

For the second year, Flashpoint Theatre Company and director Meghann Williams are taking this essay to the stage. This year, though, they've added another Sedaris holiday satire, the short story "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family," for a special two-act holiday performance.

"The Santaland Diaries" recounts the writer's experience as an elf in the midtown NYC Macy's during the holiday season. Demanding parents, selfish children, strange Santas and hot, flirtatious elves are only part of the problem. "Diaries" is a hilarious narrative of a strange, modern holiday tradition that points out that Santa is an anagram for Satan. "Season's Greetings" adopts the format of a holiday newsletter sent out by the fictional Dunbar family. The story begins when a typical middle-class suburban family receives a surprise for the holidays: an illegitimate daughter. It turns out Mr. Dunbar left more than his innocence behind in Vietnam. "Season's Greetings" parodies what happens when large families reunite for Christmas. While you may not have a 22-year-old half-Vietnamese daughter in your past, you're sure to find at least one resonant dysfunctional practice.

Flashpoint's production will star Derick Loafmann as grumpy elf Crumpet, while Tanesha Ford takes on the beleaguered but bubbly Mrs. Dunbar. Take a break from your Christmas grumbling to catch these plays. After all, these, too, only come once a year.

The Santaland Diaries and Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family, Thu.-Sat., Dec. 1-3, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 4, 1:30 p.m., $15-$18, through Dec. 17, Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St., 215-923-0210, www.flashpointtheatre.org.