Pitt-Greensburg actors return to live shows with rollicking British farce

After more than a year of virtual rehearsing and performing, Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company will sprint back to the stage for the rollicking British farce, “See How They Run.”

The 1944 Philip King play finds the actors galloping in and out of the four doors of an English vicarage.

The madcap characters include an American actor stationed with the air force in England, an actress, a cockney maid who has seen too many American movies, an old maid tasting alcohol for the first time, four men in clergy attire (one an escaped prisoner in disguise) and a sedate bishop aghast at the goings-on.

Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-12 and 2 p.m. Nov. 13-14 in Ferguson Theater at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, 100 Finoli Drive.

Tickets, available only at the door, are $10, or $5 for students and seniors.

Director Stephen A. Schrum said the play has been on his “to direct” list for years.

“The running and laughter are non-stop,” he said. “We’re glad to close our Zoom windows and be working side-by-side and face-to-face once again, and I think that really shows in the cast’s performance.”

Schrum said he chose the theme of “hidden IDs” for the company’s two productions this year.

“Hidden IDs can reference either personality IDs or Freudian IDs,” he said. “Coming off of a year of wearing masks, we can now breathe free. But do we really know who or what is behind the face we see?”

The theme will continue in the spring production of “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” set for March 31-April 3. Schrum, who is retiring at the end of the academic year, will produce that show with Christopher Bartley, Pitt-Greensburg director of music.

Cast members

”See How They Run” cast members are:

• Clayton E. Gregg V as Cpl. Clive Winton, a second-year legal psychology major from Connellsville. Gregg appeared in Pitt-Greensburg virtual productions of “An Enemy of the People” and “Dark Hamlet.” He is a member of Delta Psi Omega, the national theatre honor society.

• Michele Laity as The Rev. Arthur Humphrey, a senior majoring in visual and performing arts (theatre concentration) from Pittsburgh. She served as stage manager for “Young Frankenstein,” “An Enemy of the People” and “Dark Hamlet.”

• Zoe McLaughlin as Ida, a second-year visual and performing arts major (music concentration) from West Homestead. McLaughlin made her Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company debut in the audio drama version of “An Enemy of the People.”

• Lauren McNeill as the Intruder, a senior engineering major from Dale City, Va. She worked as a costume assistant for “Dracula,” “Young Frankenstein” “Chekhov in Yalta” and “Government Inspector.”

• Reilly Reis as Miss Skillon, a third-year political science major from Woodland Hills. She previously performed in “An Enemy of the People.”

• John Paul Ritchey as the Bishop of Lax, a 2018 Pitt-Greensburg graduate who has been active in Westmoreland County community theater productions since 2015, including “An Enemy of the People” and “Dark Hamlet.” He has appeared in movies and Netflix productions.

• Loryn Roadman as Sargent Towers, a junior psychology major from Connellsville making her Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company debut.

• Terence T. Turk II as The Rev. Lionel Toop, a senior accounting major from Pittsburgh. A Pitt-Greensburg theater veteran, he is also a member of Delta Psi Omega.

• Madison Vogel as Penelope Toop, a psychology major/theater arts minor from Penn Hills making her Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company debut.

Details: greensburg.pitt.edu