“It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” November 29 through December 15

Friday, November 29, through Sunday, December 15

Riverside Theatre, 119 East College Street, Iowa City IA

A well-known seasonal tale gets an inventive theatrical makeover when Iowa City's Riverside Theatre presents playwright Joe Landry's It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, which finds Frank Capra's holiday classic – and the entire town of Bedford Falls – re-enacted by a cast of five in this delightful November 29 through December 15 stage presentation.

Most everyone is familiar with Capra's Christmas-viewing staple, in which beloved small-town banker George Bailey, through the aid of an angel named Clarence, discovers what life would have been like had he never been born. Adapted by Landry, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play takes Capra's movie -- a timeless tale based on the story "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern -- and re-imagines it as a broadcast during the golden age of radio, with actors portraying numerous characters with scripts in hand, the sound effects achieved through hand-help props and cast members serving as foley artists, and the story occasionally interrupted by live commercial breaks. According to the New York Times, what results is “a lovable, evocative piece” in which “it's easy for the audience to get caught up in the fun of creating reality from obvious artifice.”

Directing It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is Juliana Frey-Méndez, who also helmed Riverside's 2023 productions of Fefu & Her Friends and Brönte: The World Without. A quintet of gifted actors collectively undertakes every beloved Capra role and provides sound effects besides, the ensemble boasting the talents of Kathleen Johnson, Elijah J. Jones, Phil Jordan, Allison Meyer, and Jaye Piper Rosewell, the latter a member of the Actors' Equity Association union. Tyler Salow serves as Frey-Méndez's stage manager, and additional members of the show's creative team include: scenic designer Kaelen Novak; costume designer Karlē J. Meyers; lighting designer Reese Morgan; sound designer Dakota Paropek; props designer Stephen Polchert; dramaturg K. Margaret Smith; assistant stage manager Indica Mutchler; and board operator Hannah Green.

It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will be staged in Iowa City from November 29 through December 15, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Following the performance on Sunday, December 1, there will be a talk-back with the actors and director hosted by Miriam Gilbert. (You do not need to attend the December 1 show to attend the free talk-back.) Admission is $15-39, and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)259-7099 and visiting RiversideTheatre.org.