Annette Bening in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ at Geffen Playhouse

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Annette Bening is returning to the Geffen Playhouse — but instead of starring in a regular-season production, the four-time Oscar nominee will appear in a one-day-only production of Joe Landry’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play’ scheduled for Dec. 10.

The performance — two, actually, a matinee and evening show — will serve as a fundraiser for the Geffen and The Actors Fund. (Tickets are priced from $69 to $93.) Bening will play Mary, with the rest of the cast to be announced.

Since this is a radio show, audiences can expect minimal staging, though the Geffen said that a foley artist will be on hand to produce sound effects. Bart DeLorenzo will direct.

‘It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play’ is inspired by the 1946 movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and is intended to mimic a live radio play performance from the 1940s.

Bening’s last appearance at the Geffen was in Joanna Murray-Smith’s ‘The Female of the Species’ in 2010. She also starred in Ibsen’s ‘Hedda Gabler’ at the Geffen in 1999.

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Theater review: ‘The Female of the Species’ at Geffen Playhouse

Theater review: ‘Hedda Gabler,’ starring Annette Bening, at the Geffen Playhouse

— David Ng