It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

As a girl, I fell in love with young George Bailey as deeply as Mary Hatch at the drugstore counter. I loved his heroism and his swagger. He was virtuous without being pious. This happy combination was a relief to a young Catholic raised on picture books of doll-faced, flowery-tongued saints who oozed perfection. Here was a boy I could lose my heart to.

It’s a Wonderful Life remained one of my favorite Christmas stories into adulthood. At a certain point I realized I was no longer in love with George Bailey–I wanted to be George Bailey. Because despite the gradual grinding down of his grandiose dreams into the dust of daily life, the heart of a hero still beats as loudly in middle-aged George as when he thought he could lasso the moon. He can’t let the Building and Loan die because it is the last bastion of love for one’s neighbor in a town that would otherwise be consumed by one man’s greed.

Clarence the Angel tells George, “One man’s life touches so many others.” This is true whether we touch others for good or evil. Mr. Potter’s life also touches many others as the spider spins his webs to trap all within his grasp. In our own spheres of life, each of us is continually choosing to become a George or a Potter. And George’s foray into nonexistence shows us that it is catastrophic to reject this choice, attempting to touch no one. In The Brothers Karamazov, one of Dostoevsky’s characters tells another, “We are each responsible for each.” To abdicate this responsibility means to leave a gaping hole in the fabric of the lives around us.

For those of us who make art, the creative act is a powerful way we choose to let our lives touch others. Each actor and craftsman who has labored to help you hear the parable of Bedford Falls with fresh ears in this radio broadcast rendition has accepted a certain responsibility for you. In the hour and a half we have to affect your life, we want to give you a gift. We hope you feel the sincerity with which our lives are reaching out to touch yours for the good. And we hope you leave this place renewed in the conviction that our world’s epidemic of loneliness can only be stemmed by heroes like George Bailey, Mary Hatch, and you. You see, you really have a wonderful life.

—Mary Shaffer
MTBT Co-Founder and Artistic Director