The White River Valley Players Will Present
Stoppard's 'The Real Inspector Hound'

The White River Valley Players will present Tom Stoppard's comedy,"The Real Inspector Hound," directed by Jim Lee, the first two weekends in November at the Rochester High School Auditorium. Performances will take place Saturday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m., Friday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.

In the play, two theater critics, Birdboot and Moon, are viewing, reviewing and generally commenting on a production of a drawing-room murder mystery that they are watching. As the result of Birdboot's attraction to the actress playing the leading lady of the play-within-the-play, both critics are drawn into the action of that play with dire consequences for both.

"I like Stoppard a lot," notes Lee, who previously directed another Stoppard play, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." He calls this current production "metaphysical melodrama which moves into a challenge of what is reality and what is not. It's also very funny!"

Lee has directed plays for over 45 years, ever since he was in college. Over the course of his career, he taught theater full-time and directed plays at Drew University, Bucknell University, and Connecticut College. Before moving to Middlebury, some of his most recent work was in doing staged readings of new plays in the Boston area.

The cast of "The Real Inspector Hound" includes Greg Crawford of Stockbridge as Birdboot, Alan Moore of Hancock as Moon, Tara Race of Randolph as Mrs. Drudge, Kep Taylor of Bethel as Simon Gascoyne, Rochester High School student Main O'Dowd as Felicity Cunningham, Janine Reeves of Bethel as Cynthia Muldoon, Peter Riley of Rochester as Magnus Muldoon, and Ethan Bowen of Rochester as the title character, Inspector Hound.

Those working on the production crew include producer, Dick Robson; stage managers, Kristi Tate and Toni Richardson; technical director, Jemmo (Jeremy) Seeger; set designer, Robert Finkle: lighting designer, Robert Meagher; costume designers, Dorothy Robson and Brenda Goupee; lighting crew, Dylan Tate; and publicity producer, Martha Slater.

All tickets will be general seating and advance tickets are available at the White River Credit Union (767-3333) and Judy Jensen's Clay Studio (767-3271), both in Rochester village. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

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