ELMHURST, Ill (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A west suburban theatre troupe is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a return to one of its earliest productions.
David Soria is the artistic director of GreenMan Theatre Troupe, which holds its productions at First United Methodist Church in Elmhurst.
He recently invited WBBM to a rehearsal of "Blithe Spirit", the farce by Noel Coward, which they're doing again after nearly two decades.
"We (first) produced the play in 2005. It's real fun to revisit it and get a sense of how the characters are going to play today."
Duard Mosley is playing Dr. Bradman, just like he did 18 years ago.
He said live theater will always have the wonder of the expected, the unexpected, and the fleeting.
"Let's say a person goes to the same show with two different performances.
"It's two different experiences, because it's never the same every night and also, when that performance is over, it's gone. It goes into the ether."
GreenMan member Mary Carol Riehs said small theater lets actors look the audience in the eye, which can be scary but also said it's "nice to be so close to see when something's working and have that real connection with people."
Actress Carolyn Pizzato said GreenMan is just one of the small Chicago area theaters that deliver with "so many talented people in so many wonderful church basements in which fun things are happening."
Darrianna Rockholt plays a ghost. She's a Texas native who said there's also a very practical reason Chicago has so much vibrant local theater.
"Chicago's actually the most affordable, cost of living-wise whenever it comes to places that you can work professionally as an actor and just be involved in theatre in general, so it was cheaper for my husband and I to move here than some of those other places like New York or L.A."
"Blithe Spirit" runs through November 19.
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