playbill vip

Director's Note:

In 1941, London was still in the midst of the Blitz.  Death was all around, and one result was increased interest in the occult, as people tried to communicate with their departed loved ones.  Noel Coward decided an antidote was needed, and so he flipped death and the occult over and viewed them from the comic side.  " Blithe Spirit " was the result, and he dashed it off in two weeks time.  From the first, it was a huge hit, as it was two years later on Broadway.  For seventy-six years it has remained a beloved comedy classic.

Mark Steensland

Director

Producer's Note:

Thank you for coming to “Eat, Play, Give! 2017”

Back in October of 2014, I began to envision doing dinner theater in the Fellowship Hall of our church, the Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, known as RCLPC (pronounced RiCkLe PiCk). (It is of course no accident that Right-Center-Left Production Company has the same initials!) Our company is called RCLPC Theater and the performers and staff form the Right-Center-Left Player Co-Op. 

This year, in addition to producing our own show, On Golden Pond, we are excited to import two productions from the Elgin area to join us for “Eat, Play, Give! 2017”: Encore Theatre’s Forever Plaid and Independent Players’ Blithe Spirit.

From the beginning, it was intended for the meal to provide funds to various mission programs or charities.  All dinner proceeds this year benefit the following:

 - July 14-16 On Golden Pond:  Diaper Bank of Northern Illinois

 - July 21-23 Forever Plaid:  Living Waters for the World

 - July 28-30 On Golden Pond:  McHenry County National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

 - Aug 4-6 Blithe Spirit:  Living Waters for the World

It was also a dream to create a professional cooperative theater group that would share in the work, promotion and proceeds of the ticket sales. It is so humbling and gratifying that so many people both in the church family and from the larger community embraced the concept and are so instrumental in its success.

Thanks to the RCLPC congregation for supporting this tremendous opportunity to produce theatre here. Thanks to all the church members for such patience in allowing us to take up so much space in the Fellowship Hall for so long and working around it all summer. Also, I’d like to thank especially the many church volunteers in the kitchen for their participation in making all this a reality, with enthusiasm and encouragement!

Enjoy the show and stay tuned! We look forward to an exciting future for theatrical productions here in the Crystal Lake area.

Steve Connell

RCLPC Theater President, Co-Producer