Picture this: One day at school, third-grade student Sharifa states that Santa Claus is a Black man who lives in Detroit.
That’s the premise of “Black Santa” by Aaron Mays, which opens Dec. 5 for its southeastern premiere at the Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theatre, produced by City Theatre.
After Sharifa’s announcement, among a flurry of controversy, the school’s only Black teacher, Patrice, is tasked with creating a marketing campaign to make Santa white again.
(Morgan Sophia Photography)
Niki Fridh and Rita Cole with A Santa Claus storyboard in “Black Santa” at City Theatre
“When the script came, obviously, the title was very intriguing,” said Margaret M. Ledford, artistic director of City Theatre. “As I read it, I just laughed out loud at the way people can twist themselves into knots in their inability to have a larger viewpoint.”
In a society where some people get annoyed when someone wishes them Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, “Black Santa” explores ideas that challenge the current social climate.
“I think “Black Santa” is a great reminder of the American ideal of pluralism,” said Ledford, referring to the idea that that people of different races, social classes, religions, et cetera, can coexist in a society while still continuing their own traditions and interests. “People's feathers are going to be ruffled no matter what on any given day for different kinds of reasons. I'm not shying away from the fact that the show has some socio-political leanings and statements and theories and themes, but it also can be a great humorous reminder, because of its absurdity. We can challenge traditional structures and institutions and be reminded of pluralism and the ability to coexist.”
THE CHRISTMAS CARD
Playwright Aaron Mays said the idea for “Black Santa” grew from a moment he recalled from when he was in school and gave a non-Black classmate a Christmas card.
“When she opened the card, her reaction – she seemed befuddled, confused by what was on the cover,” Mays said. “I didn't question it, I didn't ask her why she had this expression, but I never forgot it, and it stays with me even now to this day. On the cover of that card was a picture of a Black angel. And to be honest, if I were to ask her about this now, would she even remember it? But I remember how I felt when she saw the card, and her reaction – it wasn’t one of joy, I can tell you that.”
Mays started writing “Black Santa” about 10 years ago, pulling other bits from his life and letting his imagination run wild. His parents were both teachers in Buffalo, New York, where Mays grew up, and he knows a woman named Sharifa who lives in Detroit.
He also used his feelings about President Barack Obama being elected, and the hope for the future the first Black president brought him, leading him to set “Black Santa” during Obama’s first term, even including some of Obama’s victory speech in the play.
“Even if you didn’t buy into it all the way, even if you’re not a political person, that moment in history when he gave that speech in Chicago in Grant Park, it felt like the world had the possibility to change, to be better,” said Mays. “We were on the top of our trajectory, that we now had seen the turning points in our lives as Americans, to see the impossible, when it came to race relations. We never thought we would see someone of that hue, that color, be able to hold that office.”
That speech and Obama’s election, given the most recent November election results, gives “Black Santa” a new resonance, said Mays, because he set his play in a post-racial society.
“Hearing that voice in contrast to the victory speech for Trump and the concession speech for Kamala Harris, the mood of the play, where you enter it, changed dramatically, to the point where I felt the urge to weep.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION
(Aaron Mays)
Aaron Mays on Biscayne Blvd. outside the Arsht Center with a poster advertising his play, “Black Santa” at City Theatre
Growing up, Rita Cole, who plays Patrice Patterson, the Black teacher in the play, didn’t see Black Santas in the world.
“As a Black woman, I obviously found out my father was Santa a super long time ago, but I it just never dawned on me to think of a Black Santa in general, because anytime I go to the mall or any time I see Santa on TV, he's not Black,” said Cole. “Now when I got older in my 20s, I saw this episode of “Martin” and that was my first time, but again, we're talking about TV, not in the real world.”
In contrast, Mays grew up in a home filled with the imagery of Black Santas, including holiday figurines and a Black angel for the Christmas tree. Still, he was aware that the image of Santa Claus that has come to be accepted as the embodiment of Christmas was the jolly, bearded, white man in a red suit, which was created by cartoonist Thomas Nast for a Coca-Cola marketing campaign, which means that the image that was created to sell soda also sold America the personification of the spirit of Christmas.
“The play, while it deals with some kind of black-white paradigm, it goes beyond that,” said Mays. “The play deals with what it feels like to the outsider, to be unseen and to be invisible at times and it deals with the myths and traditions we have, and how they shape our lives.”
Cole said that reading “Black Santa” made her aware of something she had not considered before, and that the fact that she didn’t question that in the world outside of her home, Black Santas did not exist.
“I should have come up thinking that Santa's not only Black in my home, but he can be of a different persuasion outside in the real world, too,” she said. “It didn't even dawn on me, and that’s sad. But sometimes that's how whitewashed the world is. We all succumb to it because that's all we see.”
THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND ABSURDIST
(Morgan Sophia Photography )
Rita Cole portrays teacher Patrice Patterson and Niki Fridh plays Principal Ward in “Black Santa” at City Theatre
“Black Santa” is a departure for Mays, because it’s his first comedy. After a friend of his read the play, according to Mays, the friend told the playwright to stop saying he’s not funny.
Niki Fridh, who plays Principal Ward in “Black Santa,” hasn’t done a comedy and is happy to be part of the cast.
“We could all use comedies right now,” said Fridh. “We all need to laugh, and this play definitely has some teeth and some depth to it and it's about some really serious issues, but the comedic aspect is definitely there.”
In “Black Santa, Principal Ward is the character who tasks Patrice with creating a campaign to make Santa white again.
“She's kind of the most absurd character in the play,” said Fridh of Principal Ward. “It's really fun to play a character who is very condescending and actually racist, but has no clue whatsoever that she is. She has no clue that her microaggressions are constant.”
The absurdity in “Black Santa” and how the deeper themes are handled with humor, made it a great fit for Ledford as a director.
“Almost everything I do, I do it with humor,” said Ledford. “So ‘Black Santa’ works for me because it is funny, and because it pushes the envelope into absurd in some instances. If we can laugh at the extreme, if we can laugh at the absurd, then we can find the granules of truth in it and maybe re-examine things. I hope that it can open people up to being able to see a Black Santa and find that a joy, just as joyful as a white Santa.”
IF YOU GO
“Black Santa” by City Theatre
Dec. 5-22
Ages 14 and up
Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
Tickets: $56 and $61