It's a Wonderful Life

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – It’s a Wonderful Life

Playwright/composer – Joe Landry based on the original story by Philip Van Doren Stern

Production Company/Theatre space – Semi-professional, educational / Rosebud Theatre School of the Arts, Rosebud Opera House

Length – 95 minutes (no intermission)

Genre/s – Radio play of a fantasy drama

Premise –With the help of his guardian angel, a businessman and family man realizes that he has a wonderful life after being shown how he has contributed to his friends and family.

Why this play? Why now? – Christmas classic with name recognition and very marketable.

Curiosities – Why not have the names of the characters in the program rather than just the faux actors’ names?

Notable moment – The feel-good ending.

Notable writing – Since this story slipped into the public domain, it has been adapted in various ways for the stage. Joe Landry has created a cash cow with minimum effort. Good for him.

Notable performances –While George Baily mayn’t have traveled and built great things, he realizes that his life, rather than being a tragedy, is a success because he has built community. Aaron Krogman is the perfect actor to do this as he takes us with him on the emotional journey of George Baiy rather than letting us see Jake Larents the actor who has a gig for a night reading a play. Mike Thiessen plays the cop and the angel-in-training deftly. Robert Klien is given the heavy lifting as Narrator/MC, evil capitalist, cabbie and God, amongst others, and pulls it off with aplomb. Lacy Edwards is the very sweet Mary, evolving from crush to girlfriend to wife of George. The other actors fill in all the ancillary roles, provide foley and sing the commercials in the two “intermissions”. It all works together very well.

Notable design/Production – Amy Castro provides a lovely pallet of reds and browns for her period costumes. Joy Robinson imparts just the right amount of supporting music, while Lighting Designer Narda McCarroll creates a warmth that would be present in the story rather than the cold lights of a recording studio. All good choices.

Notable direction – While in other productions actors knit, play word games, drink, contribute to the foley, and otherwise mime off mic conversations, Craig Hall make a far superior choice. He uses his skills to create a hybrid genre whereby the actors play the roles in the story rather than the contrivance of having the actors play performers reading a story. This delivers a richer product. Also, having the foley makes a more natural soundscape rather than schticking it supports this version.

One reason to see this show – It’s a wonderful production.