'The Santaland Diaries' to come to SU

Shippensburg Arts Programming and Education (SHAPE) invites the community to attend a Santaland Soiree on Friday, Nov. 30. Guests will enjoy a visit to the gallery at 20 W. King St. in Shippensburg, while sampling hors d’oeuvres prepared by local restaurant Knute’s Pub and Grill and a sampling of wine, beer and refreshing drinks.

Partnering again with Shippensburg University’s theater department, SHAPE is excited to host a special reception to promote their production of “The Santaland Diaries.”

On Friday, Nov. 30 between 6 and 7:30 p.m., the reception will feature a pre-theater buffet of hors d’oeuvres, wine and sparkling juices at the gallery at 20 W. King St., with reserved tickets for the university production.

For more information, contact SHAPE at 717-532-2559.

SHAPE Gallery hosts the first part of this special evening. Participants will have an opportunity to view the current “Give the Gift of Art” holiday exhibit at the gallery, gather with other patrons of the arts and enjoy food and drinks. Then, all will make their way to Memorial Auditorium on the Shippensburg University campus for the 8 p.m. performance of “The Santaland Diaries.”

The evening’s meal will be catered by Knute’s Pub and Grill and features pumpkin brandy soup, poached pear, cranberry and blue cheese salad, pork roast stuffed with apricots and pistachios or sweet and sour pork, mushroom risotto, pumpkin and ginger snap parfaits and assorted Christmas cookies.

From American writer David Sedaris, “The Santaland Diaries” is the riotous account of his experience working as a Macy’s department store elf. The New Yorker magazine describes “The Santaland Diaries” as having, “A satirical brazenness that holds up next to Twain and Nathanael West.”

Performances of “The Santaland Diaries” take place at 8 p.m. from Wednesday, Nov. 28 until Saturday, Dec. 1. It will also be shown at 2 p.m. for a Sunday matinee on Dec. 2 in Memorial Auditorium.

-Courtesy of SHAPE Gallery