Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Just about every production of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" will have a distinct British flavor. After all, the comedy was written by a British playwright, it's set in 1941 England, its main characters are British socialites and it's filled with British humor.

Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre's Feb. 20 through 24 staging of the comedy, however, takes the British flavor one step further: three of the seven actors are from Great Britain..

Rebecca Killick, who attended high school in Somerset, England, portrays Elvira, Charles Condomine's deceased first wife who is conjured during a séance at the country home of Charles and his second wife, Ruth.

Amanda McLaren, a native of Scotland, plays the Condomines' maid, Edith, and Sionelle Mallon, a resident of Gloucestershire, England, portrays Mrs. Bradman, a guest of the Condomines.

All three of these women are participants in the American Theatre Arts program offered jointly through Rose-Bruford College in London and SFA. Each year 15 to 20 ATA students spend a year studying American theatre at SFA.

A fourth ATA student, Rebecca Carey, is serving as the dialect coach for the production. Carey relied on her previous training in voice for radio and her personal work to lose her regional accent on the stage in helping the cast members to produce just the right upper class British accent.

Killick said she hasn't had too much trouble with the accent since she already had a fairly standard, non-regional accent anyway. "I also went to a boarding school for two years and was therefore exposed to the accent a lot."

Previous exposure to the accent has also helped McLaren with an accurate portrayal of her character's speech.

"Even though I'm Scottish, I found the accent easy to produce since I lived in London last year and a lot of my ATA friends are English," McLaren said.

The correct British accents help make the characters believable, but the delivery and timing of the lines is also important in conveying the British humor.

Whereas American humor is often physical or visual, British humor is more subtle, sarcastic and dry, Killick explained.

In addition, the humor of "Blithe Spirit" is farcical. The characters are placed in bizarre situations and we laugh at their misfortunes, Killick continued.

"The humor is very upper class, Southern English--a type of humor that isn't often captured in contemporary theatre," McLaren said. "Even though it was written during the second world war, it is a timeless humor that even modern day audiences will enjoy."

"Blithe Spirit" will open at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, and run through Saturday, Feb. 24, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. It is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts, School of Theatre and University Series. It is sponsored in part by Tipton Ford-Lincoln-Mercury of Nacogdoches.

Prior to the opening night performance on Feb. 20, Allen Oster, SFA professor of theatre and the show's director, will give an informative talk on the comedy at 7 p.m. in Griffith Gallery, located across the hall from Turner Auditorium. All audience members are welcome to attend.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, please visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.