In order to convince the powers that be, hygienic Hermey must present his case in front of the all-powerful Christmas Council, whose ranks include Buddy the Elf (Ethan Paulin) Kevin McAllister (Griffin Lottes) and Cindy Lou Who (Brooklyn Pachal), as well as the power couple themselves, Santa (Isaac Graham) and Mrs. Claus (Emma Frobel).

Always the misfit, Hermey doesn’t care for the sugary diet of candy corn, gumdrops, and spaghetti with maple syrup that the other elves love. “It’s too much sugar!” the elf exclaims.

Santa, who is revealed to have recently made lavish additions to his home, such as a large-screen TV and a hot tub, tells the elf it would be too expensive.

The old man says there is no money — not to pay for the dental office, and certainly not to pay the lowly elves a living wage. “Candy is worth money!” Santa said of his preferred method of worker compensation.
In the end, Hermey wears the council down, convincing them the sugary-sweet North Pole diet is doing more harm than good to the workers’ teeth. The council decides to grant the dental advocate his wish, telling him he can have his clinic if he runs it himself.

The play’s story was written by former PHS student Sydney Côté, who was directing for the first time.

“I wanted to do a Christmas pageant [ . . . ] I started thinking about different Christmas characters that were from different movies that could come together, and the ideas started flowing,” she said, adding she began writing it back in May.

Côté said her favourite Christmas movie is the 1964 stop-motion version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, where she encountered the character of Hermey, a misfit elf who wants nothing more in life than to leave Santa’s workshop and become, of all things, a dentist.

“I think Hermey is such a fun character, so I wanted to base [the play] around that,” she said, adding that she liked the fact the elf wants to go against the grain.

The short play was preceded by a number of musical arrangements, including a group performance of Christmas classic God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and a stirring solo of O Holy Night! by Faith Hamilton.

All songs were accompanied on piano by PHS music teacher Matt Lottes, who was thanked not once, but twice by Côté following the show for his help with the production.

Côté expressed her gratitude for the student cohort and the community for supporting the effort.

“I am so proud of all of the students and they really impressed me. I couldn’t believe the love and support we got from our community,” she said.

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