INDIANOLA, Iowa — Theatre Simpson is bringing humor and absurdity to BPAC this weekend. Audience members will feel as if they are sitting in the living room watching a crazy dinner party.

“The Bald Soprano” takes place in a home with two couples who are about to have dinner. They never make it to dinner, though, because some crazy stuff starts to happen, according to director Mimi Kammer.

“It’s so unpredictable,” Kammer said. “You never know what’s going to happen next.”

Junior Addison Grant plays Mrs. Smith in the production. She described Mrs. Smith as a wife in upper-class society who acts as the boss figure.

“She’s the one who wears the pants in the family – that’s what we’ve decided,” Grant said. “She’s a little bit of a hot head, and she’s got a temper on her, but she’s quick witted.”

Grant said playing the characters has been difficult because it’s an absurdist piece, so it’s easy to play crazy. They’ve had to find a balance between acting the absurd and acting as though these are just their lives that happen to be crazy.

Senior Taiylor Morgan is the assistant director for the play. She, along with Grant, is a theater scholarship student, so she has been required to be part of every play whether it’s acting, helping with costumes, being part of the stage crew or assistant directing.

Morgan’s favorite part of assistant directing has been watching everything come together and transforming the space into a new experience for the audience.

“I think it will be a different kind of theater experience for most audience members,” Morgan said. “There are a lot of normal, everyday things that occur within the play, but there are also a lot of abnormalities that just force you to laugh about life.”

Grant said there’s a lot of slapstick and physical comedy, but she thinks the audience will be able to connect with the humor easily.

“They’re going to be grateful they weren’t invited to dinner with these people—they just get to laugh at them,” Kammer said.

This is the fifth show Kammer has directed at Simpson, and the first comedy she’s directed here. “The Bald Soprano” will also be the shortest play she’s directed, because it’s a long one-act play, running at around 65 minutes long.

Kammer said the show will take place downstairs in Barnum, the smaller theater, and that the location will create the sense that the audience is in the living room with these people.

“I’m really excited for audiences to come and see it and just have a ball with us,” Grant said.

Students and faculty get one free ticket per night of show with their Simpson ID. Tickets can be acquired at the box office in BPAC or online at simpson.tix.com. The theater crew will also have a table set up in Kent throughout the week preceding the show where students can sign up for tickets.

The Bald Soprano show times are Nov. 16-18 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.

Morgan also encourages Twitter users to follow @tsmarketing2 and @SimpCoAPO on Twitter for more on theater events.