By Jo Schaffer
Good luck catching your breath with this one. Spanish Fork Community Theater surprises and delights with their production of See How They Run at Spanish Fork High School in Spanish Fork. My companion was my niece who is a theater major, and we laughed all the way through this fast-paced comedy of mistaken identity and hijinks. See how they run, indeed.
See How They Run is set in the 1940s in an English vicarage. The stuffy vicar, Reverend Lionel Toop (Craig Applegate) is married to spirited American actress, Penelope (Elizabeth Phipps). They are an unlikely pair who meet the disapproval of one particularly nosy parishioner, Miss Skillon (LoriAnne Poulsen).
The hilarity begins when Penelope’s old friend, Corporal Clive Winton (Brigham Bennett) takes a brief military leave and comes to visit her. He ditches his uniform for the vicar’s clothes to dodge Army regulations and they spend an innocent night out. Upon returning to the vicarage, the two friends reenact a scene from the play “Private Lives” they once performed together. Unfortunately, Miss Skillon walks in on it and reads all of the wrong things into what she sees. Full of self-righteous outrage, Skillon wants to expose Penelope for the wanton she is believes her to be.
Meanwhile, Reverend Toop is attacked by an escaped Russian spy (Damien Parente), who steals the vicar’s clothes and is hiding at the vicarage. Mix in the visiting Bishop of Lax (Daniel Mesta), anxious Reverend Humphrey (Chantry Knox), cute cockney maid (Sydney Christensen), and frustrated policeman Sergeant Towers (Ben Gleason), who is chasing the convict and everyone else dressed like a cleric. Even with no set changes this play really moves. I was entertained and riveted to the action onstage the whole time.
See How They Run, written by Phillip King, was first staged as entertainment for the troops before its British stage premier in 1944. The title is a line taken from the nursery rhyme “Three Blind Mice”. Originally, King wrote the first act in 1942 under the title Moon Madness. The Spanish Fork High School Theater is comfortable and intimate. The parking is free and accessible. Because it is a smaller venue, all of the seats are good seats.
It boosts the sexual hormone in men by alleviating the sexual impediments, which aids facilitates levitra 10 mg the person to enjoy their sexual life happily. Most of viagra tablets india the time, these ailments alter or develop over time. If the Government were to change the regulations without agreement it could cause them to be confronted with a online levitra glacialridgebyway.com legal challenge, which could make the situation even worse. Use and Abuse of Recreational ED Drug Men that are a ‘must-know’ for a free sample of viagra user can occupy the top rank in levitra search for Google, Yahoo or MSN, by using different search engine optimization techniques.
With a cast of only nine, each character really has a chance to shine in this witty and fast-paced comedy. As the vivacious American among Brits, Phipps gives a sparkling performance, making an engaging comedy team with the only other American character, played by the rakishly handsome, Bennet. Poulsen slays as the nosy prudish neighbor who becomes unexpectedly brazen when intoxicated. I quite enjoyed Knox’s quiet humor as the timid, befuddled Humphrey amidst the other blustering and frantic characters. The whole cast does an excellent job, keeping up the high energy and comedic timing that makes a play like this work.
Director Polly K. Dunn with the assistance of Jill Broadhead orchestrated this well-cast and fun production. The set (Dayna Hughes)—a typical English country living room, costumes (Larisa Hicken) and lighting design and sound (Brock Larson) do not draw undue attention to themselves, but provide a good, setting for the chaos of the onstage action.
As part of Spanish Fork City’s Harvest Moon Hurrah, See How They Run is fun for the whole family, with only some mild innuendo and language, and one comedic intoxication. Catch this hilarious classic farce if you can. It will make you want to jump up on stage and run around too. Don’t glance away—you’ll miss something. And just to let you know, my theater major niece is going back to see See How They Run. It’s that good.
Spanish Fork Community Theater presents See How They Run
Spanish Fork High School Little Theater– 99 North 300 West, Spanish Fork, UT 84660
September 15-16, 18, 22 and 25 at 7:00 PM.
Tickets: $8. Seats are general admission. Ask about discounts for groups of 15 people or more. Purchase tickets at the door or online at SFCityTix.
SFCT Facebook Page
See How They Run Facebook Event
0 Comments