Sharon Ammen, theatre director at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC), recently received an Arts Illiana Grant to help finance a professional guest actress, Delia Taylor, to play the lead in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College's spring production, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.”

“Arts Illiana has been a wonderful supporter of the Music and Theatre Department at SMWC, and for the last several years, we’ve received a grant to help us with various projects,” Ammen said. “We’re particularly excited to have Delia Taylor back this year because she’s a consummate professional, she loves SMWC, and the students thoroughly enjoy working with her. The students who are involved with this production will learn so much from her about professional acting.”

Taylor has previously directed two shows at SMWC and also presented numerous workshops. She works as a professional actress, stage manager and director in Washington, D.C., and is currently the producing manager of The Jewish Center Professional Theatre in Washington, D.C.

In “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Taylor will play Miss Brodie, an egocentric yet charming teacher in a private Edinburgh school during the 1930s. In the production, Miss Brodie’s six students move through the school, where she sabotages school curriculum to instead impress her own passions, both personal and academic. In the pre-World War II days, Miss Brodie praises fascism and begins to forget that each person, regardless of their status, is a human with rights. SMWC will produce “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in February 2009. Taylor will also present an acting workshop at SMWC on January 31, 2009.

For more information about the programs and events offered through the Music and Theatre Department at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, call the SMWC Music and Theatre Information Line at 812-535-6211. More information is also available online at www.smwc.edu.