'Night,' 'Life' offer two takes on Christmas: Cynical and optimistic
Snapshots of families you barely know tumble out of the red and green envelopes in your mail. Hackneyed carols cloy the air in supermarkets. The average Starbucks smells like a nutmeg emporium. If, experiencing such exasperating phenomena, you long to give the yuletide spirit a savage poke in the eye, you will warm to "The Night Before Christmas," Anthony Neilson's irreverent comedy about cynical modern singles tangl…