Santa 1
Santa 2
Santa 3
Santa 2: (off stage) Ho-ho-ho!
Santa 1: Aagh!
Santa 2: (enters) You alright? Shall I get you a doctor?
Santa 1: No, I am NOT alright... but it's not a doctor I need, it's
a psychiatrist. I must be crazy doing this. Does your nose itch?
Santa 2: (puzzled) No, why?
Santa 1: (bitter) You must have the real hair beard, then. This synthetic
fibre does nothing for my upper lip. Look at this rash.
Santa 2: Give over. You're always grumbling. But I bet you love it
really.
Santa 1: Love it! Sitting there with a wet knee for half the day, then
just when you're beginning to dry out another one gets nervous and does
the honours. Love it! You must be joking. What's to love?
Santa 2: Their smiling faces, their bright eyes, their eager anticipation...
Santa 1: Stop it, you sound like an advert for dog food.
Santa 2: Don't you just love it when they tell you, all serious, that
they've moved since last Christmas and they haven't got a chimney in the
new house.
Santa 1: I tell 'em I'm not coming. If it won't go through the letter
box they're not getting anything.
Santa 2: (dreamily) "How's Prancer?" they say, and "Did you bring Rudolph?"
Santa 1: I tell 'em I've come on me bike... and I've sent the reindeer
for dog meat.
Santa 2: Ain't it great when they gaze up at you, and you know you're
fulfilling their dreams....
Santa 1: They've got a funny way of showing their appreciation.
They come running up to you and start thumping you in the belly.
Santa 2: So what's wrong with a few little playful punches in the tummy?
Santa 1: It's alright for you - yours is a cushion.
Santa 2: Don't you just enjoy the warm glow you get when you give a
kid just what they want...
Santa 1: They want a clip round the ear, half of them. Honest... I
turned me back for a second and some kid pinched me egg timer.
Santa 2: Egg timer!? What do you mean?
Santa 1: I don't give 'em more than three minutes for 50p.
Santa 2: (shakes his head in disbelief)
Santa 1: If anybody else asks me if Dudley Moore is still and elf,
they'll find 50-pence-worth of Santa's Magic Grotto right ...
Santa 2: (interrupting) Don't be like that. Christmas is a time of
fantasy, of magic, a time for families and kids, a time for giving...
Santa 1: Yeah. It's giving me a headache.
Santa 2: Christmas is a time for celebration, for reflecting on what
it really means...
Santa 1: I'll tell you what it really means. Christmas means being
back on the dole again. Come December 24, you and me are out of a job,
finished!
Santa 2: But don't you wish it could go on... you know, all year?
Santa 1: (sarcastic) Yeah, 365 days of sweat rash from a polyester
beard. Not to mention the nappy rash from having your knee permanently
wee'd on.
Santa 3: (over his shoulder, as he enters) Ho-ho-ho! Be back in a little
while.
Santa 1: You're taking a late break.
Santa 3: You know how it is... I had trouble parking the reindeer.
(laughs in a jolly way) Anyway, how's things?
Santa 1: Grotty at the grotto.
Santa 2: Don't listen to him. It's super in Santa-land.
Santa 1: (getting up and making his way offstage) Oh well, back to
the grindstone. How's YOUR lip?
Santa 3: (looks puzzled)
Santa 2: Don't worry about it. He's just grumbling ... again. He can't
wait for it to be over.
Santa 3: And you?
Santa 2: I wish it could go on for ever, but I suppose everything's
got to come to an end.
Santa 3: No necessarily. It can go on.
Santa 2: What do you mean? It'll be Christmas next week.
Santa 3: But it doesn't have to end at Christmas.
Santa 2: I can hardly keep running Santa's Grotto up till Easter.
Santa 3: Sure, Christmas has to end. But what it's all about can go
on ...
Santa 2: What do you mean?
Santa 3: Well, Christmas is more than grottos and fairy lights, more
than presents and Christmas trees. A lot more.
Santa 2: You’re right. I suppose there’s the joy of giving, being with
your family, sharing in the fun.
Santa 3: There’s even more than that.
Santa 2: You mean, carol singing and church and all that? I suppose
that’s alright if you’re religious. I don’t mind it myself, but it’s not
everybody’s cup of tea. I mean, it’s alright in small doses...
Santa 3: ... but you wouldn’t want it to go on all year. I know what
you mean. No, I was thinking of something else. Actually ... someONE else.
Santa 2: I don’t follow.
Santa 3: Jesus. I was thinking of Jesus.
Santa 2: Well, of course, that’s what Christmas is all about. I suppose
it wouldn't be the same without the baby in the manger. It’d be a bit silly
having Christmas without the baby Jesus.
Santa 3: But some people do leave him out.
Santa 2: Like ol’ “grumpy clogs” you mean?
Santa 3: Him, and a lot of others. Not only do they leave Jesus out
of Christmas, but they leave him out of life in general. If only they’d
realise that Jesus can make all the difference ... not only to Christmas,
but to every day.
Santa 2: AFTER Christmas?
Santa 3: Sure.
Santa 2: Even when the turkey’s been eaten?
Santa 3: That’s right.
Santa 2: When the batteries have run out?
Santa 3: Recharges your system.
Santa 2: Every day?
Santa 3: Every day.
Santa 2: All year?
Santa 3: For ever.
Santa 2: (getting up to leave) I’d like to know more ...
(Santa 3 begins to explain as they walk off together.)
....................................................................................