"See How They Run"IF YOU GO* What: Back Alley Productions' "See How They Run."* When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, June 21-22 and 28-29.* Where: Walker County Civic Center, 10052 North Highway 27, Rock Spring, Ga.* Admission: $10 adults, $8 children and seniors.* Phone: 706-621-2870, 706-375-7705.* Website: www.backalleyproductions.org.HONORING SERVICEPolice and fire personnel and active and veteran military personnel (with proper ID) will receive two free tickets to any production of "See How They Run," according to director Kaylee Smith.
The Cold War and comedy weren't two ideas that naturally fit together over the latter half of the 20th century, but the upcoming Back Alley Productions presentation at the Walker County Community Theater is an exception.
"See How They Run," first staged in Great Britain in 1944 and made into a 1955 film, involves Americans, Brits and Russians, plus mistaken identities, doors and confusion.
It will be offered the next two weekends, June 21-22 and 28-29, at the Walker County Civic Center.
Director Kaylee Smith says she and her brother saw a production of the show last year at Lee University and fell in love with it.
"It was hysterically done," she says. "I had always wanted to do a comedy" and thought this was "a very lovely show."
Set in England just after World War II, the play finds former actress -- and now vicar's wife -- Penelope Toop reconnecting with an old friend from America, Lance Cpl. Clive Winton, after the vicar leaves for the evening.
To attend a play in which they both once acted, Winton dons the vicar's second-best suit and collar. Before they leave, though, the two re-enact a scene from the play and accidentally knock out prudish maid Miss Skillion, whereupon the confusion ensues.
The satire in the family-friendly script is enhanced by "quite a bit of slapstick happily added by the cast," says Smith. The diverse cast of characters, their accents and their differences in cultures also "flavor the show."
The overall humor, she says, might be likened to an "old episode of 'I Love Lucy.' "
The nine-member cast ranges in age from 13 to 25, according to Smith, but the age difference among the actors corresponds with the individual characters they play.
The actors have done a great job learning comedic timing, which is "something really difficult to teach and direct," Smith says. "They really bring [the show] to life [with] characters that are larger than life."
Contact Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6497. Subscribe to his posts online at Facebook.com/ClintCooperCTFP.