Cultures will clash over the rights to a piece of art that has the ability to change history as the Penn State School of Theatre presents Pentecost, beginning at 8 tonight with performances until Nov. 15.

Pentecost is set in an undetermined Eastern European country during a time of political conflict, when art historian Gabriella Pecs, played by Nika Ericson (graduate-theatre), finds the painting in a church.

"I'm the one that starts the action in progress," Ericson said.

Once the painting is believed to be culturally and historically important, other art experts from the United States and Britain get involved to help decide if the painting should be transported to a museum.

"They discover a painting that could change the history of Western heritage," said stage manager Rachel Harpham (senior-theatre).

Director Dan Carter said the actors have all studied the accents and languages of their characters' countries extensively. Carter said he also worked with faculty in the Germanic and Slavic languages and art history departments.

"We have great resources at Penn State. We are very fortunate," he said.

Sara Tode (graduate-theatre), who plays Yasmin, a Palestinian Kuwaiti refugee, had to learn Arabic for Pentecost.

She said the language difference helped her get in touch with the character and makes current news in Eastern Europe and the Middle East come to life.

"You get the feeling of what it's like to go through such horrible things without a safe place," she said. "If you really break it down, there's a lot of different elements in this play."

Tode said she hopes this play will help the audience think of the refugees as more than just a number.

"That number is so impersonal," she said. "I think this play tells the story of those people."

Ericson said her character wants the painting to stay in her home country.

"She's very much a person who is passionate about art. She thinks it would reestablish pride instead of all these negative things that are associated with the country," she said.

Jason Boat (graduate-theatre), who plays Oliver Davenport, a British art theorist, said his character believes the art should be preserved in another country without taking any cultural conflicts into account.

"He doesn't care about any of it. He just cares about the art," Boat said.

Alano Miller (graduate-theatre) plays the American art expert, Leo Katz. Miller said his character believes "art was maintained for that time period, not ours" and should not be taken from the church.

"This play brings all these different people together, and they come out of it with a different perspective," Ericson said.

The first act involves art, history and culture as new aspects of the painting are discovered, Carter said.

"The first act is like The Da Vinci Code, and the second act is like an episode of a hostage drama," he said.

As the story continues, a group of refugees tries to claim sanctuary in the church and end up taking both the painting and the art aficionados hostage.

"We come and take over this painting in order to get work permits and passports," she said. "We are willing to take someone's life in order to do what needs to be done to survive."

A discussion will be held at 7 p.m. before each performance on various topics dealing with issues in the play and are free to anyone, including those without tickets.