by Charlotte Groombridge
It all started many years ago in the distant world of 2022. After several hours of wrapping presents, fighting with sellotape, and drinking ginger wine (a long established Christmas tradition), Elliot and myself settled down to watch the final 20 minutes of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
We find this is the perfect film to watch whilst wrapping presents since the preamble lasts long enough that we are usually done by the time George Bailey is considering ending it all on the bridge (and the best part of the film begins).
Who knows what it was? Perhaps the Christmas spirit imbued us with a particularly creative verve. Or maybe it was the ginger wine. Either way, as the final words of Auld Lang Syne drifted away, we were already deep into riffing out a perfectly acceptable winter comedy.
The first joke wrote itself, and in a pretty accurate imitation of Zuzu’s whiny voice, we said in almost unison “Every time a bell rings, an actor gets an award”.
The main character for such a piece was obvious, for what would the world of theatre be like if Shakespeare had never been born? The Clarence character took a little more work, until we finally agreed that only Kenneth Branagh would have enough of an ego to consider himself Shakespeare’s guardian angel (no disrespect to Kenneth, of course).
Other characters slipped easily into their roles. Robert Greene, Shakespeare’s real life arch nemesis, fitted perfectly into Potter’s shoes. Anne Hathaway could fill in for Mary, and the actors of the Lord Chamberlain’s men replaced the various townspeople whose lives were changed forever by George Bailey.
But who could embody the arguably most important character in the whole film, Uncle Billy? The forgetful fool who misplaces the money and sets off the events of that fateful Christmas. Kit Marlowe was the obvious choice, but instead of money, he instead loses the First Folio which, through some convoluted plot conveniences, will land Shakespeare in debtors' prison.
I’ll admit it, the play is very, very silly, and only about 20% historically accurate, with the most grievous bits of misinformation heavily lampshaded, and many winks to the audience when we borrow too liberally from the source material.
Thankfully, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is completely rights free, which is the reason for its constant syndication.
When I started this project, I listed out all of the scenes I was adamant had to be included, my favourite being the run on the bank, and Elliot’s being the overly dramatic statement about Mary’s fate in the alternate universe, “She’s about to close up the library!”.
But ultimately, I wanted not only to parody a Christmas classic which is a staple for many families. I wanted to capture a little bit of that magic which makes this film a classic.
Who can honestly say they have never once teared up at the toast to “The richest man in town!”, or the final words from Clarence that “No man is a failure who has friends”? “It’s a Wonderful Life” gives us a glance of a world where we can make a difference through simple acts of kindness. Through a strong adherence to the principles that every person has worth despite their bank balance. And that a strong community is the most important achievement we can aspire to, because they will always be grateful that you are a part of their lives.
“One man’s life touches so many. When he’s gone he leaves an awful hole”. How true those words are. We certainly owe a lot to Shakespeare, and I hope this show is a fitting tribute to just how much he means to us.
Even if the actor is doing a Jimmy Stewart impersonation.
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