Santa Claus
Sequel survivor.
Still on call.
An interactive musical-comedy murder mystery
Slay Ride IIFright Christmas
Mrs. Claus
Activist.
Newly radicalized.
Elfish Prezley
First Officer.
Genre expert.
Cooper DeVille
Investor.
Increasingly interested.
Frosty D. Snowman
Personal-injury lawyer.
Formerly portly.
Santa Claus
Sequel survivor. Still on call.
Mrs. Claus
Activist. Newly radicalized.
Elfish Prezley
First Officer. Genre expert.
Frosty D. Snowman
Personal-injury lawyer. Formerly portly.
Cooper DeVille
Investor. Increasingly interested.
But this is not just a murder mystery. It is a sequel.— Elfish
The Case
Christmas Eve has a caller. He knows the movies. He also knows the reindeer.
Santa Claus is preparing for his annual flight when his telephone rings. A sinister caller has taken Blitzen hostage and wants to play a game. The questions concern classic Christmas movies. The consequences concern the rest of Santa’s reindeer.
Soon, a masked figure is moving through the North Pole. Reindeer disappear one by one. Every entrance follows the rules of a slasher film, complete with ominous music, unfortunate decisions, and a body count expected to surpass the original.
Meanwhile, Christmas has developed a corporate problem.
Santa’s operation has been incorporated as SantaCo. Cooper DeVille is acquiring the company one percentage point at a time. Frosty D. Snowman has become a personal-injury lawyer. Mrs. Claus has discovered environmental activism. Elfish Prezley is trying to run the company, investigate the murders, and organize a professional wrestling match.
The audience supplies movie-trivia answers, cheers and boos the wrestlers, questions the suspects, and completes Detective Cards before the solution is revealed.
The sleigh is almost packed.
The company is almost sold.
The telephone is ringing again.
At a Glance
Musical-comedy mystery and slasher parody
60–75 minutes
2 women, 3 men, plus four volunteers
The North Pole on Christmas Eve
2–2½ hours with dinner and intermission
Trivia, wrestling, questions, and Detective Cards
Three parodies with recorded accompaniment
Simple lighting, sound effects, and hand props
The SantaCo Staff, Counsel, and One Aggressive Investor
Five Christmas institutions. One company nobody remembers forming.
Santa Claus
Still recovering from the original Slay Ride, Santa has raised his rate for the sequel. He spends the off-season watching Christmas movies on videotape and criticizing the casting. Now someone is stalking his reindeer, threatening his life, and attempting to take over the company he did not know he owned.
Mrs. Claus
Born to wealth and newly radicalized by guilt, leisure, and glacier conservation. Mrs. Claus has exchanged North Pole domesticity for political activism—and has become unexpectedly interested in Cooper DeVille’s environmental philanthropy.
Elfish Prezley
Santa’s first officer keeps SantaCo running with alarming efficiency. She is also an ice sculptor, amateur detective, slasher-film authority, wrestling ringmaster, and coach. Some evenings require a broader résumé than others.
Frosty D. Snowman
A mild winter left Frosty considerably thinner and professionally reinvented. He now practices personal-injury law with a legal briefcase, corncob pipe, carrot nose, and an encouragingly flexible attitude toward death.
Cooper DeVille
A charming entrepreneur who operates from a basement office—deep in the basement. DeVille made his fortune through gambling, investing, and perhaps a convenience-store lottery ticket. He is steadily acquiring SantaCo and intends to run Christmas himself.
Inside the Mystery
The audience receives the call before it receives the evidence.
Movie TriviaWrestlingQuestionsDetective Cards
Before the performance begins, guests receive a program, Detective Card, pen, and Character Fun Fact. The cast circulates in character, allowing the audience to meet the suspects before the first telephone ring.
During Act One, Santa recruits three guests to help answer questions about A Christmas Story and White Christmas. The entire audience may call out answers while Blitzen’s fate hangs on its knowledge of holiday cinema.
During Act Two, another guest becomes the wrestling ring girl, raising the round card while Santa and Cooper DeVille settle control of SantaCo in the ring. The audience cheers, boos, and discovers that corporate governance has fewer rules than professional wrestling.
After Act Two, guests question the suspects directly and complete Detective Cards before Act Three reveals the solution.
The audience does not merely recognize the movie conventions. It helps keep the sequel alive.
Recovered from SantaCo
Six objects from a Christmas Eve controlled by telephone, paperwork, and sequel rules.
01 / Incoming Call
Santa’s Telephone
The caller does not need to enter the room. Only the line.
02 / Required Viewing
Santa’s Christmas-Movie Rentals
Santa studies Christmas movies every summer. Tonight there will be a test.
03 / Political Material
Mrs. Claus’s Conservation File
She is waiting for the Ghost of Christmas Presents.
04 / Sequel Protocol
Elfish Prezley’s Mask and Round Card
Every sequel has rules. Elfish has notes—and a bell.
05 / Counsel’s Property
Frosty’s Legal Briefcase
There must have been some magic in that old briefcase.
06 / Corporate Records
Cooper DeVille’s SantaCo Holdings
Christmas is not for sale. The paperwork suggests otherwise.
From the Notebook
The sequel announces its rules before it breaks them.
Rules Are the JokeThe characters understand the structure surrounding them: the obvious suspect, the least likely suspect, the rising body count, and the victim who should never announce an intention to return. The comedy comes from following those rules with absolute confidence while the evening refuses to become more orderly.
The Audience Is the Last CollaboratorMovie trivia, wrestling cheers, direct questioning, and Detective Cards give the audience more than participation. They give the performance its final rhythm, its unpredictability, and its reason to remain alive in the room.
Available for Production
The phone is ringing. The audience may know the answer.
Slay Ride II: Fright Christmas requires five actors, four willing audience volunteers, prerecorded musical accompaniment, extensive sound-effects playback, simple lighting cues, and a compact collection of hand props. The evening was created through Mystery Theatre Unlimited and is designed for dinner theatres, community theatres, restaurants, banquet rooms, fundraisers, holiday events, and other spaces where the audience can become part of the action.
Production Information & Script
Bring Slay Ride II: Fright Christmas to your audience.
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