Paperback Stage bringing radio-play version of Miracle on 34th Street to the Hat

By MO CRANKER on November 10, 2020.

The Paperback Stage is getting ready for its first performance in the Hat.

The group is going to be performing ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ this winter at the Monarch theatre downtown. Paperback Stage will present a radio play version of the script.

“We’ve had plans to do something since before the pandemic, so we’re thankful to be able to still do something,” said artistic director Richard Grafton. “My wife and I used to do the Paperback Stage in Calgary and we’ve wanted to bring it here for quite some time.”

The Paperback Stage’s mandate is to stage literature, Grafton says.

“We want to take old stories and adapt them into new productions,” he said. “This is family-theatre style and as we go along we want to do more plays, radio plays and other kinds of productions.

“These are all going to be based on popular stories from different points in time.”

Thanks to a grant from the city, the performances will be free for anyone to attend. There is a seat limit in place, with just 100 tickets open for each show. The Paperback Stage will be accepting donations for future shows.

“This is a bit of a fundraiser for us, in a way,” said Grafton. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Those in attendance will be asked to wear a mask. Seating will distance cohorts.

Grafton writes all of the scripts for the organization’s performances, and has based the upcoming show on an old radio play for ‘Miracle on 34th Street.’

“We’ve been rehearsing for October and November,” said Grafton. “We have a cast of 11 and it’s made up of people from around the community.

“There’s as young as nine years old, we have some teenagers and some adults.”

There will be two showings, one on Dec. 12 and one on Dec. 19, both start at 2 p.m.