No Refund Theatre is ending the season with a final performance that promises to be witty, hysterical and unpredictable.

Nate Kushner is the playwright and director of this weekend's play, Sic Semper; or Other Than that, Mrs. Lincoln, How was the Play?

"The play is a silly retelling of the night Lincoln was shot," Kushner (senior-English) said.

Kushner's inspiration for the play came from his distaste for Our American Cousin, the play that Lincoln was watching during his assassination.

"The play is about an English Lord that gets a letter that his cousin from Vermont is visiting. It is a fish out of water comedy, but written badly. Some parts are racist and ethnocentrist. The way Tom Taylor wrote it is more outrageous. It is surprising that Americans didn't find it offensive," Kushner said.

After being exposed to the play, Kushner had a mission.

"I thought 'how can I make the play funny again?' " Kushner said.

The directors spent a lot of time casting for the play because although the characters are not historically accurate, they are historical figures.

"The play has no social commentary, no deeper meaning and doesn't have anything to do with the real story," said Co-Director Mike Richards.

The play focuses on the actors performing on stage at Ford's Theatre. Kushner has made the players in the play the heroes.

Richards (sophomore-English and theatre) also plays Barry, one of the actors.

"The actors are very bitter during the play because Lincoln talks during the show," Richards said. "President and Mrs. Lincoln are not enjoying the play and are rude throughout it."

The stage for the play is set so that the play Our American Cousin is being performed in the center. On one side, the audience sees President and Mrs. Lincoln watching the play and on the other they see John Wilkes Booth planning to assassinate the President.

John Constantine (junior-English) plays John Wilkes Booth, the historical man who, after two major Confederate defeats, assassinated President Lincoln in Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865.

In the play, Booth is an alcoholic who is infuriated with Lincoln because of the Confederate defeat. He is a cowardly man who tries five or six times to kill the President until he finally does.

"He is a really lame individual who has no confidence and is just pathetic," Constantine said.

Throughout the play, Booth sits at a bar and talks with the bartender Ada, Lauren DeKosky (senior-history), who also wants the President dead for other reasons. She is the one who finally convinces him to kill the President.

At first Ada smiles and then yells and even plans to meet Booth in Cancun to persuade him to kill the President. Finally, she explains to Booth why she wants Lincoln dead and convinces him to go through with it, DeKosky said.

"Booth wouldn't have shot Lincoln if I didn't hadn't have convinced him to do it," DeKosky said.

Kushner describes the play as modern comedy and comparable to a cartoon.

"The play is absolutely hilarious. Every line is really funny," DeKosky said.

You can see Sic Semper; or Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How was the Play? at 8 tonight and tomorrow night in 111 Forum.

As always, admission is free.