It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
When Seattlest heard that Taproot Theatre would be producing the world premiere of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol, we jumped in the air and clicked our collective heels. Nineteenth Century forensics and investigative genius, mustaches, abductive reasoning, and holiday cheer? Well, these are a few of our favorite things! But the early morning fire on October 23rd put an end to our old timey jubilee. As it turns out, the arsonist’s trick did more than just a few black stains of smoke damage. Rebuilding will take some time--though Daytona Strong, Taproot’s Communication Manager, says they hope to bring The Great Divorce to the theatre by the end of January. Without a proper venue for the December Holmes debut, Taproot turned to a trusted friend, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (which the company also produced in 2006), presented at North Seattle Community College’s Stage One Theatre.
The decision to sub in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play makes sense. Play performances on Taproot’s main stage tend to take advantage of the space’s numerous entrance and exit possibilities. Characters often storm the stage from the house aisles, coming from behind the audience, entering from either side of the stage, and often from directly behind the stage’s backdrop. Though the Holmes play would have undoubtedly surrounded the audience, a live radio play is more appropriate for Stage One’s traditional shape and smaller house section, requiring no entrances or exits but in turn demanding more imagination from the audience. Fortunately (or not) most of us have already seen the 1946 classic film, so when the audience closes its eyes to let the radio play work its magic, it envisions Jimmy Stewart and Bedford Falls in black and white, while onstage six performers combine sound effects and dialogue for the nearly verbatim presentation.
The set design and costumes are comfortable, hearkening back to those pre-television listening days. The radio studio is decked with sound effect devices, easy chairs, and vintage microphones. Breaks for commercial jingles and applause lights pull the audience in, but besides the brief tangents, the play never goes beyond the original and well-known script, leaving the audience disconnected from the performers. The audience sees people whom it knows are acting for radio, but never gets to see who the actors are in the world outside of their performance, which is really like adding walls instead of breaking through them. Is it necessary to have a plot beyond the radio performance? Maybe, maybe not, but it couldn't have hurt to have a little more, here. Still, It’s a Wonderful Life is one of the best holiday stories ever told, completely solid on its own and in any form. The hurried production came together well, and the ever-delightful Taproot staff created a little bit of home at Stage One and provided another in a long list of enjoyable experiences.
On October 23rd Taproot almost went the way of old George Bailey, and we were almost left to experience life without a friend who has made a difference in the Seattle theatre community. But like George, Taproot has made plenty of loyal friends, and with a little help, they’ll recover. It seems they already understand that in good times and in bad, life is always wonderful. Get well soon, Taproot.
