CRESTVIEW — Following View from the Stage’s fall production, "Arsenic and Old Lace," the community theatre troupe continues in a comedic vein with this weekend's staging of the classic British farce, "See How They Run."
Warriors Hall will resound with Phillip King's comedy and its cacophony of slamming doors, mistaken pastoral identities, an escaped Russian spy, and a prim and proper parishioner who gets into the cooking sherry.
The fast-paced comedy, directed by Sandra Peters, features a nine-member cast that includes her husband, the Rev. Sean Peters, appropriately playing the Rev. Lionel Toop, vicar of the fictitious English village of Merton-cum-Middlewick.
Familiar local actors Craig McRae, Corey Black and Jeremy Faust return to the boards following their appearances in "Arsenic," joined by Courtney Peters, Nancy Black, Meghan Erlacher, Ray Erlacher and Michael Hoppenjan.
Performances begin Friday evening and run through Sunday's matinee.
Want to go?
View From the Stage presents Phillip King's comedy "See How They Run," 7:30 p.m. April 12 and 13, and 3 p.m. April 14 at Warriors Hall in the Whitehurst Municipal Building, 201 Stillwell Ave. Tickets— $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12 — are available at Journey Java Connection, 269 N. Main St., or at the door with cash or check before each performance.
Call 398-8814 for more information on the production or on how to become a View from the Stage sponsor.
Crestview community theatre in the 1960s
View from the Stage is the city's newest community theatre troupe. Longtime resident Bob Lynn fondly recalled The Crestview Curtain Pullers, a 1960s group organized by Bill Barnhill and Rogine Hasty, among others.
One of the troupe's first productions, Lynn said, was "A Womanless Wedding,” a drag farce, performed at the former Crestview High School, today’s Richbourg ESE School.
"We did all kinds of things in that show," Lynn said. "Durell Lee, who was a Buick dealer, was in it, and (then U.S. Rep.) Bob Sikes was the preacher. (Former Mayor) George Whitehurst and Judge Charles Wade were in it.
"It was a lot of fun. Durell Lee played the part of an infant and they had him in a wheelbarrow that was supposed to be his stroller. We had a long plank and pushed him up the plank onto the stage, but after he fell out a few times, we found one person couldn't push it."
Contact News Bulletin Arts & Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: British farce is community theatre troupe's second production