Cutting Edge Comedies, a comedic CHS production that will show twice on April 27 at Studio 15, will consist of several shorts that aim to cover taboo topics while entertaining the audience. According to Michael Muldowney, student director and junior, the show is unprecedented in that it is completely student-directed and student-produced.

The production will include four skits in this respective order: “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “The Pretense of Civility,” “Soup’s On” and “Paimon’s People.” 

Muldowney said most of the humor in the shorts will revolve around death and religion.

Matthew “Matt” McDonald, student director and junior, said, “The overall premise is to push the boundaries of what we’re allowed to perform in high school as much as possible.”

Although the shorts cover controversial topics such as cults and teen drinking, Muldowney said performing arts teacher Jim Peterson approved all of the scripts, which were written by Kinsey Erickson, student director and junior, Muldowney and McDonald, to be school-appropriate.

Peterson said, “Anything that would be offensive, that’s the main thing (I was looking for). So I was looking for things artistically, but (I was) just making sure we didn’t offend anybody because you lose audience sympathy. If you don’t have the audience on your side, then you’ll lose the audience.”

Muldowney said despite the controversial issues covered in the production, he hopes the audiences will laugh and find the skits interesting.

“We are striving for some controversy, trying to be somewhat provocative. We’re not trying to be so provocative that it’s off-putting,” Muldowney said. “We want to be provocative enough that it’s intriguing, that it’s fun and fresh because…in my opinion, play humor is rarely honestly fun.”

According to McDonald, because the production will include controversial issues, he is expecting some audience members to react negatively but hopes that most will enjoy the sketches.

“Importantly for me, my goal, in terms of audience response, would be mostly they love it and thought it was hysterical, and I wouldn’t mind getting two or three nasty emails about how offensive we were. I would really love that,” he said.

Not only will Cutting Edge Comedies provide comic relief for the audience, but it will also bring current issues into focus.

Gus Leagre, cast member and senior, said, “I think one of the plays (‘Mama Told Me Not to Come’), in a way, encourages the (Lifelines Law) in that you, I believe, that if one of your friends passes out or something while you’re drinking, and you call an ambulance to help him, you will not get in trouble for drinking. It’s a way to help prevent death and injury in those situations, and I think that these plays sort of promote that a little bit, and I think that that could be the main issue positively influenced.”

According to Muldowney, all ticket sales and concessions will also go to the All for a Cure Club, which works with various cancer charities. Audience members can purchase tickets at the door for $5.

“[The audience should look forward to] the fact that anything goes. These plays and part of the controversial aspect is that they do not follow, conventionally, where high school productions would go,” Leagre said. “In that way, they are cutting-edge.”