A remarkable thing about BYU is the commitment to produce new things. Each year the Theatre Department usually produces an original student written and developed play.

This year's student written production is the "Houseboat Honeymoon."

The "Houseboat Honeymoon" is running Nov. 12 through Dec. 6 in the Pardoe Theatre at the Harris Fine Arts Center. Visit byuarts.com for more information.

Director Eric Samuelsen said the play has been completely transformed since its conception in a work-shopping class which he advised.

"During the development process it went leaps and bounds," Samuelsen said. "The first draft was just a play about a wedding reception. We realized that that setting wouldn't work because if the new bride and groom got fed up with the in-laws they could leave. Now they are all stuck on a houseboat."

Stage manager Summer Lewis said "Houseboat Honeymoon" is a play about learning to get along and loving your family, including your sometimes crazy in-laws.

The process of discovery for the newlywed couple follows a very comedic path.

"It's hilarious, anything with people falling overboard and the use of metal detectors to communicate is going to be hilarious," Lewis said.

Comedy is fun to watch, and often seems effortless. However, Lewis has learned that comedy has more to it than meets the eye.

"Comedy is harder to act than dramatic works because you have to get the timing just right," Lewis said.

Leticia Pierson learned this over and over again while working on "Houseboat Honeymoon." Because Pierson is on the tech crew, she has also had to get the timing of things just right. She has to stay on her toes in order to be ready to catch things that get thrown overboard. She also has to wet those objects and the people who fall overboard.

Samuelsen agreed this play has unusual technical difficulty.

"This show is unbelievably technically difficult," Samuelsen said. "It's not been done before so we had to come up with our own solutions."

The sound was a technical problem that the crew had to develop solutions for.

Sound designer Christina Tibbetts said a unique challenge was coordinating all the random and crazy sound effects. These sounds ranged from the splashes made by things, or people, being thrown overboard to the metal detector the grandfather uses to communicate.

"It's such a crazy play," Tibbetts said. "They needed such random sounds. When I read the script, I was simply amazed."

Tibbetts said the music for the play is also very unique.

"It's fun music," she said. "We wanted to create a mismatched world so we chose songs that had familiar tunes with different words, or songs with familiar words with different tunes."

Actor Doug Kaufman plays the role of the new husband bringing his wife into the whole new world of his family.

"I'm one of the few grounded characters, and I am surrounded by a sea of colorful people," Kaufman said.

"Colorful people" may be an understatement for some people. Anna Kron coordinated the lighting for the show and has a definite opinion about the characters in the play.

"It's crazy," Kron said. "There is so much going on all the time. There are about 15 people on stage and they are all crazy."

Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Nov 2008