Fortunately for South Sound theater fans, Alan Bryce has friends in high places.

Places like England's Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theater in London.

Bryce, the artistic director of Centerstage, Federal Way's resident professional theater troupe, is now in the enviable position to invite colleagues from his past to join his productions here at the Knutzen Theater.

Karen Archer is one such friend.

Archer is known to millions of English television viewers as the female lead in ITV's series "The Chief," and for her numerous stage and movie roles spanning the past thirty-five years.

"Karen is one of my dearest friends, my eldest son's godmother, and it's a real pleasure to bring such an actress of great distinction, who's worked with top theater companies in the world, to Centerstage," Bryce said.

The illustrious actress told the Federal Way News last week that she was very pleased when Bryce invited her to join the cast of Centerstage's upcoming production, Noises Off, which opens February 17.

Archer came to Federal Way as part of Centerstage's 2005-2006 Guest Artist Program.

"I have to remind myself that I am here to do a job," Archer laughed with her deep, rich, thoroughly English voice. "This is my first time visiting the Northwest, and I'm having so much fun sightseeing and poking around...then I remember, oh yes, rehearsal."

Archer and Bryce first worked together over 20 years ago in a production at the Overground Theater in London. They kept in touch year-to-year and reunited in England last summer, when Archer attended Bryce's wedding.

What started out as an off the cuff nudging, "I want to see the great Pacific Northwest!" became a reality when Bryce offered her the role in Noises Off.

A resident of southwest London, Archer was born in the north of England, and traveled a great deal in her childhood as her father was in the English Army Education Corps. The family spent time in various spots around England and the Far East, such as Singapore.

Archer's mother was a teacher who harbored dreams of becoming an actress. But Karen, who also started out training to be a teacher, was the one to achieve the dream of having her name on marquees around the world.

"I was very, very lucky. The first job for which I auditioned, I got the part, and was able to get my equity card though that. I've been earning my living on stage ever since," said Archer.

The Telluride Film Festival picked one of Archer's first films, The Mouse and the Woman, a low-budget picture based on a Dylan Thomas short story, and the young actress came to States to attend. It was the early, heady days of the now-famous festival, and Archer recounted the memorable flight on the tiny hopscotch plane that brought her to Telluride.

"I looked around and saw Robert Altman, Werner Herzog, Russ Meyer...I thought if this plane goes down, so will half of Europe's film industry!" said Archer.

"The local sheriff met our plane, and in that little Victorian cowboy town, I went into a bar and there was Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall playing pool, it was just so thrilling for me," Archer recalled.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Archer rose through the ranks of England's acting circles. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for an extended UK and US tour of Nicholas Nickelby, and won roles in Mourning Becomes Electra at the Royal National Theatre and Phallacy at the Kings Head Theater in London.

She now has two agents; one manages her TV, film and stage roles, and another orchestrates voice-over jobs. Archer gets a lot of work doing what is called "re-voicing." When programs that play on cable networks in the US, such as Animal Planet and The History Channel, are bought and aired in England, the narration is dubbed with English voices.

She also just finished recording the audio book narration of The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. Archer says she enjoys that kind of work, close to home.

"I loved touring with Royal Shakespeare Company, but when one has young children, it becomes rather impractical. You're gone on the road for so long," explained Archer.

The mother of fraternal twins, now 21, Archer sighed when she told how both of her children are following in her footsteps in front the floodlights.

Archer hopes her children will also follow her lead in civic volunteering.

At Her Majesty's Wandsworth Prison, one of the largest prisons in England, Archer serves on an independent monitoring board, an entity nonexistent in the States. It's a group of regular citizens that serves as the eyes and ears of the community, a position appointed by the Home Office.

"We are able to draw keys, which means we are able to drop in anytime and go anywhere in the prison. We monitor to ensure procedures are followed correctly and sort out problems, do mediations," explained Archer. "Minor achievements make it worth it. You listen to one man [prisoner] who's never been listened to, create an environment of mutual respect.

I have seen people utterly changed during my service there."

Archer also participated in Romania Project UK, when she and another actor drove a truck full of supplies to children's hospitals in Romania, a year after the revolution in 1989.

But for now, Archer is relishing her roles as tourist and Centerstage actress.

"I'm working with really lovely people. Everyone involved is extremely talented and dedicated. It will be a fantastic show,"declared Archer.

Given her renowned career, theatergoers in Federal Way are bound to agree.