No Refund Theatre (NRT) will stir up controversy as two violent story-lined plays take the stage this weekend in the production of The Zoo Story and The Baptism.

Students have put months of preparation into presenting these surprise-ending shows and said audience members will not be disappointed.

"It's a lot of work, but the end product is always worth it," Jesse Cramer (freshman-English), director of The Zoo Story, said.

The two-person play, written by Edward Albee, is about an encounter between two strangers on a New York City bench.

"The play is placed in the '50s, but we're setting it to modern times. It seems like it's 2007," Cramer said. "The main theme of the show is making a connection with someone else. It's about masking true feelings and the drastic measures people will go to eliminate loneliness."

Actor Matthew Davidson (junior-media studies and political science) said he expects good things from the play.

"I'm really proud of it so far," Davidson said. "This will be my ninth play of the year, and I really think we got something good here."

Like The Zoo Story, The Baptism, too, promises to rouse up emotions for audience members.

Written by LeRoi Jones, the show is "basically a religious satire, dark comedy" based around the conflicting viewpoints of a priest, minister and homosexual, director and actor Christopher T. Caster (junior-energy business and finance) said.

"It is a crazy, controversial show that actually has a great message in it to say what you mean and mean what you say," he said.

Caster said he has had five cast members drop out of the show since the beginning of the semester.

"Some of them are a little hesitant to perform the show," he said. "A lot of people are uncomfortable with the material because it's very graphic. The reason I am putting on this show is because I want people to think and question their beliefs and perceptions of the world," Caster said.

The play will generate a multitude of reactions from the audience, Sarah Lutz (freshman-theatre) said.

"A lot of people are going to be disturbed," Lutz said, who plays a crazy elderly woman. "No matter what your beliefs, you can take something away from this play."