Guild show adds drama to American students' exchange

There will be a slightly American flavour to the Theatre Guild's October production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.

Two American exchange students at the University of Adelaide will have backstage roles for the controversial black comedy based around two parents' attempts to bring up a severely handicapped child in the 1960s.

Katie Innes and Jesse Matthews are attending the University of Adelaide for a semester through the Study Abroad program and both decided to join the Guild to further enrich their experience of Australian life.

Katie is originally from San Fransisco and is currently a Theatre student at Whitman College in the state of Washington. She is currently studying Anthropology and History at Adelaide, and will be Stage Manager for Joe Egg.

"I love the theatre but even though I'm studying it back home, I don't have any desire to be on stage - I like working behind the scenes more," Katie said. "I really enjoy the stage manager role - I'm meant to know exactly what's going on backstage at any given time, which actor is meant to be where, and what the director needs to have done."

Jesse, who will be a member of the Joe Egg backstage crew, hails from New York City and is majoring in Statistics and Psychology at Northwestern University, located near Chicago in Illinois.

"This is the first time I've actually been involved in a theatre production," Jesse said. "Growing up in New York City, I've always loved the theatre and am an avid theatregoer - I don't have any desire to be an actor but wanted to be involved somehow and thought taking on a backstage role would be the ideal way to get started."

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is directed by Rosemary Nursey-Bray and stars David Adams, Maxine Harding, Justin Nicholas, Lesley Reed and Ann Weaver. Based on playwright Peter Nichols' own family experiences, it was first performed in 1967 and was recently revived with great success in London's West End.

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg will be performed at Little Theatre on Saturday, October 16, Tuesday, October 19 through to Saturday, October 23, and Tuesday, October 26 to Saturday, October 30 at 7.30pm each night. Tickets are $20/$15 and are available from the Theatre Guild on (08) 8303 5999 or BASS on 131 246.