Father may know best, but the kids really know how to deal with dad in a staged radio play from Knights of Columbus (KOC) Productions to be performed at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons next Saturday, Dec. 13.
This is the group’s fourth annual radio play. Remember Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus and It’s a Wonderful Life staged in years past?
This episode of Father Knows Best, a long-running radio and TV program, was originally broadcast in December 1953, and though they used flowery language and dramatic movie music at that time, other elements of the story could apply today, 60 years later.
The father, performed by actor Mac Dodge, questions how Christmas has become so out of hand. His wife Margaret, played by Sharon Langenberg, is wrapping numerous presents for others who they scarcely know. His eldest daughter, whom he calls Princess (Delphi Hunt-Spicer), is spying on her boyfriend to ensure she gets the gift she wants, while the youngest daughter, Kitten (Jasmine Fitzsimmons), wants a purple Christmas tree this year.
“It’s more modern,” she tells her father.
The son, Bud (James Stinson), wants to go out carolling — the parents like this idea until they learn he wants to drive around playing carol records from a sound truck that advertises a car dealer.
What’s happened to the spirit of Christmas? Father decides to load the whole family into the automobile and drive to the woods to chop down a tree.
“It will be a Christmas none of us will ever forget!” he says, and with these words the audience knows that something is bound to happen. The family will learn that being stranded together is not the worst way to spend Christmas Eve.
David Short is director of this annual radio play. The actors are reading a part, just like they would have done on radio in the old days, though it’s entertaining to watch them immerse themselves in their roles. The sound effects are real — footsteps on a stair, a car sliding on the ice — and are provided at appropriate times by Richard Austin and Mary Kenny.
No radio broadcast would be complete without homemade commercials. Holy Crap, the breakfast cereal, grabs the limelight, as well as Travel Masters in Sechelt, Swish Clothing (“It’s a piece of New York in Gibsons!”) and an especially “sweet deal” from South Coast Ford. These represent some of the sponsors of this production and, speaking as an audience member who always listens to sponsor thank yous at other events, this is by far the best way to acknowledge their support. Announcer Stephen Archibald and other players, Janet Hodgkinson and Kenny, make sure we are entertained in the process.
The performances are on Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse. Tickets are $10 for seniors and students (under 14), $15 for all others and are available at Laedeli and Gaia’s Fair Trade in Gibsons and on EventBrite.
