Photos by R. Chantz Richens
Press Release
Looking for some great laughs while in the midst of the cold and dreary months of February and March? Come to Carbon High School March 1-4 and 6 and see the theatre department presentation, “See How They Run.”
The play, a rollicking farce typical of the British comedy scene, is set in the late 1940s in the living room of the Vicarage at the fictitious village of Merton-cum-Middlewick. The lead character is Penelope Toop (Sarah Clark), former actress and now wife of the local vicar, The Rev. Lionel Toop (Stephen Ewan). The Toops employ Ida (Bethany Prettyman), a Cockney maid. Miss Skillon, (Mersedez Clifford), a churchgoer of the parish and a scold, arrives on her bicycle to gossip with the vicar and to complain about the latest ‘outrages’ that Penelope has caused. The vicar then leaves for the night, and an old friend of Penelope’s, Lance-Corporal Clive Winton (Ryan Morley), stops by on a quick visit.
In order to dodge army regulations, he changes from his uniform into Lionel’s ‘second-best suit,’ complete with a clerical ‘dog-collar’ in order to see a production of “Private Lives” (a Noël Coward play in which they had appeared together in their acting days), while pretending to be the visiting vicar Arthur Humphrey (Joven Morrison), who is due to preach the Sunday sermon the next day.
Just before they set out, Penelope and Clive re-enact one of their scenes from “Private Lives” and manage to knock Miss Skillon (who has come back unannounced) unconscious. Miss Skillon, wrongly thinking she has seen Penelope committing adultery with Winton, gets drunk on a bottle of cooking sherry and Ida hides her in the coat closet. Then Toop, arriving back, is taken prisoner by an escaping Russian prisoner (Nate Carpenter) from a nearby camp, who takes his clothes as a disguise. To add to the confusion, both the real Humphrey, as well as Penelope’s uncle, The Bishop of Lax (Jared Brandt) unexpectedly show up early. Chaos quickly ensues culminating in a cycle of running figures, most of them dressed as clergy.
The play will be presented March 1-4 and 6 in the Carbon High School auditorium with the curtain going up at 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $3 for students and children. Family tickets are available for $20 (family of 6). The production is appropriate for all ages.
