‘Santa Claus Vs. the Martians’ @ Death Camp Productions/Mainstage 222
Photos by Joel Hashop
—Hannah Kneen
Adapted by Andi Allen from the original screenplay of “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” Santa Claus Vs the Martians is returning for the sixth time in the past dozen years, this go-round as a co-productions of Camp Death Productions and Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas. Based on the 1964 cult sci-fi film infamous for its perfectly dreadful quality, this show goes all out on low budget theatricality, leaning into the absurdity of the original.
Concerned that Martian children are watching too much Earth TV, Martian leader Kimar (Patrick Douglas) seeks counsel from a sage on how to deal with the problem. He is told that the children are suffering and unhappy under the overly rigid structure of Martian society. They need to learn to have fun. And, since the children love watching an Earth interview of Santa Claus in his workshop, Kimar decides on a solution: to kidnap Santa Claus (Allen Matthews) and bring him to Mars.
But Kimar doesn’t stop there: two children, Billy and Betty Foster (Jaclyn Thomas and Katie Macune) are also caught up in the chaos. Mrs. Claus (Bayley Allen) weeps and wails. On Mars, danger comes from the villainous Voldar (Travis Cook), who believes Santa is corrupting Martian children, leading them away from true Martian glory. Voldar (of course) plots to kill Santa and the kids.
The play, directed by Alexis Sparkles Belt, has pop culture references galore, including allusions to Star Wars and Doctor Who. A lot of the humor is built by drawing attention to the badly-done theatrical elements of the show. The acting is plastic and stiff, especially for the Martians, and awkward gestures are emphasized for comedy. Children Billy and Betty are amusingly terrible at pretending to be excited/scared about the whole kidnapping thing. And the performers have moments when they are clearly playing the actors in the roles—frustrated and confused by the bizarre story and its strange characters. There’s a lot of fourth-wall-breaking, and the actors handle it well.
Props (Belt), costumes (Karen Ruth), lighting (Mia Lindemann), and sound (Andi Allen and Christopher Lee Johnson) are all exactly as awful and low budget as they need to be to suit the show. There are cardboard costumes; puffs of baby powder sprayed into the air to simulate “fog” for dramatic entrance; and a very entertaining bit about Andy (Nathan Willard) the TV host never getting his music cues right. Longish transitions between scenes sometimes killed the momentum, which was a shame; it was the only “hiccup” that didn’t seem intentionally funny.
Overall this show is just…ridiculously bad. But that’s where the fun of it lives. For all those D- grade movie connoisseurs out there, this is the Christmas show for you.
WHEN: Dec. 1-17, 2023
WHERE: Mainstage 222, 222 E Irving Blvd, Irving, Tx
WEB: https://mainstageirving.com/one-time-to-die/
