Overview
This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.
In Depth
Bringing Frank Capra’s classic film to the stage began almost twenty years ago when longtime friend and teacher Frances Kondziela asked me to pen an adaptation for her high school ensemble. After the premiere of this original incarnation, the piece was produced by TheatreWorks in New Milford, CT, and was then chosen for its first professional production at the legendary Westport Country Playhouse. When the budget of this (still full-scale, literally putting the film on stage) production skyrocketed and was dropped from the slate, the concept of staging the piece as a live radio play of the period was born. This radio play adaptation was originally mounted at Stamford Center for the Arts in 1996, and has been performed there since with great success. It was at Stamford that the play was fine tuned and took shape as the piece published here. Through word of mouth alone, productions have since taken place around the country, including the noted Chicago premiere at American Theatre Company. My thanks to all those who have been involved since the beginning of the this journey, including Frances Kondziela, Jim McKenzie, Julie Monahan, George Moredock, Doug Moser, Jane Desy, Barbara Meyer, Cathy Mulligan, Kevin Connors, Colin Eastland, Achilles Tsakiridis, Doug and everyone at Playscripts.com and my loving and supportive parents, Paul and Mary, sister Hope and brother Tom. And thanks to you, dear reader, for your interest in retelling this timeless tale. – Joe Landry (August 2006) -source-
Directed by Kevin Hunt