Thanksgiving isn't complete without a few basic, necessities: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and, of course, a painfully dysfunctional family. Penn Staters looking to get a jump-start on holiday hell can check out The House of Yes this weekend at the Pavilion Theatre.

Kel Haney (senior-theatre) is directing the play as part of her senior honors thesis.

"I want to be a stage director and I thought this was simply a great opportunity," Haney said. "I think it's great to do this play and to have it be connected to, but not officially part of, The School of Theatre."

Haney began planning the production in March. The Schreyer Honors College approved the production as a thesis project and The School of Theatre donated use of the Pavilion Theatre. Haney's cast and crew consists of 11 members, including one professor, associate professor of theatre Karen Durst.

"Kelly came to me last spring saying she had a part she wanted me to look at," Durst said. "I took a look and the rest is history."

The 70-minute dark comedy centers on an affluent, dysfunctional family, the Pascals. When brother Marty brings home a rather normal fiancée for Thanks-giving dinner, some dark family issues are brought to the surface.

"Several years ago when the movie came out, I thought it'd make a great play," Haney said. "Then I found out it was one originally. I just really enjoy the dark humor. It's sick and twisted but I really care about these characters and really wanted to explore them myself."

Anthony Romeo (sophomore-musical theatre), who plays a character of the same name, is embarrassed by the relationship he feels with his character.

"I'm more like my character than I like to admit," Romeo said. "I'm not quite as screwed up as he is but still very similar. We're both really random and bubbly in a scary sort of way and we both like to tell stories and ramble."

Lindsey Broad (junior-theatre and English) said director Haney likens her character, the looney sister Jackie-O who believes herself to be the deceased former first lady, to her real life self as well.

"Kel says I live in a different neighborhood of the same world as my character, but I tend to disagree," Broad said. "I hope I'm not that delusional."

Haney said the most difficult aspect of the whole production has been dealing with the show's absurdist nature and characters.

"I think the script has been difficult to deal with because it's not realism," Haney said. "It's something surreal. It's tough to get the actors to affect their acting partners without trying too hard to be funny or over the top."

Romeo said House has been one of his most challenging roles ever. As the youngest actor involved with the production, he felt the pressure to live up to his peers' acting skill levels.

"I've had a hard time because I'm the newest actor here," he said. "Kel has been working with me on stuff that I'm currently learning simultaneously in my [acting] classes. It's really been helpful to me since the other actors are at a more advanced level."

Thematically, Haney said people will take different things away from the play.

"It's about shallow rituals we have -- what we say, what we feel, what we do," Haney said. "I just figure people will get different meanings from it."

Mike Richards (senior-theatre and English) adds to that, believing the play to have a seemingly contrived but true theme.

"As trite as it sounds, the message is about how love is where you find it," he said.

The most important aspect of the play's production is that it is a rather unique show compared to the fare normally performed on campus, Broad said.

"I don't think this play is something audiences at Penn State are used to seeing," she said. "It's very out there and we certainly don't censor ourselves with it."

The House of Yes will have a preview at 5:30 p.m. today in the Pavilion Theatre and will hold its two performances tomorrow and Saturday night at 8. Admission is free.