Theatergoers in search of a big dollop of holiday nostalgia would do well to seek out the Spreckels Theatre Company production of It’s a Wonderful Life – A Live Radio Play.
The Condiotti Experimental Theatre at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park hosts the Jenny Hollingworth-directed show through Dec. 15.
Based on Frank Capra’s classic 1946 film and The Greatest Gift, the short story by Philip Van Doren Stern that served as its source material, the story is presented as a live 1940s radio broadcast from the New York studio of WBFR. Five actors portray five radio actors portraying all the characters from the story.
Jake Laurents (Nic Moore) solos as George Bailey. Sally Applewhite (Tina Traboulsi) essays Mary. Freddie Filmore (John Craven), a name that will ring a bell among I Love Lucy fans, undertakes multiple roles including Mr. Potter, while Harry “Jazzbo” Heywood (Matt Farrell) and Lana Sherwood (Rodi Frater) take on everyone else.
For the two folks unfamiliar with the story, it’s the tale of George Bailey, a selfless individual who finds himself at the end of his rope when facing financial ruin and imprisonment. His guardian angel arrives to save him and after a casual remark by George, shows him what life in his town would have been like had he never been born. Cue the bell.
It’s a pretty straightforward adaptation of the story. And for those who worry that watching a bunch of actors read scripts in front of a microphone might be a little dry, fear not. The show is almost as fully-staged as a fully staged production.
The set (Eddy Hansen) captures the essence of a radio studio, the costumes (Adriana Gutierrez) set the scene squarely in the 1940s, and the actors present fully-formed characters almost exclusively through voice, with an occasional assist from a modest costume adjustment or movement.
Radio was often called “theater of the mind,” as your mind created pictures solely from what it heard. Here, the sound effects are provided via a Foley table and Foley artist (Grace Reid). How such sounds as wind, a car motor or feet walking in the snow are created is fun to see. Hint: One of them involves corn flakes.
For folks who miss one of the now-infrequent airings of the film, It’s a Wonderful Life – A Live Radio Play is a more than reasonable facsimile. It still packs a surprisingly emotional punch.
‘It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play’ runs through Dec. 15 in the Condiotti Experimental Theater at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. Fri-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $14-$32. 707.588.3400. spreckelsonline.com.
