Even with the best of intentions, napkin rings will not save the world -- that is, unless cows fly downtown this weekend.

Directed by Brad Johnson (senior-theatre), Feast of the Flying Cow: And Other Stories of War will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the upstairs space of the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave.

The three-act play, written in 2001 by Jeni Mahoney, questions the intentions of war relief, but also uses humor to frame the situation, which drew Johnson to the play in the first place.

"It's definitely a satire," Johnson said, "but there are serious elements to it."

The play features a humanitarian ambassador and his well-intentioned wife who try to provide aid to a couple in a war-torn area somewhere in Eastern Europe.

The ambassador's wife, Audrey, played by Kaira Klueber (senior-theatre and marketing), leaves her husband because she believes people need her help in the poor country.

In an effort to help the impoverished couple she meets, Audrey naively prepares an outlandish dinner feast complete with silver napkin rings, Johnson said.

"In her head, she really thinks she can end the war," he said. "It's a very disillusioned humanitarian relief effort."

The couple Audrey meets, Izak and Anya, live a bleak life, even facing the prospect of killing their dog to have enough food to survive.

To try to escape their seemingly hopeless lives in the war-torn country, the two imagine livestock sprouting wings.

"Just to get away from what is happening, they say that when the war is over cows will fly," Johnson said.

Julia Albertson, of Spring Mills, plays Anya, and said her character tries to openly express her emotions in unpredictable situations, acting as the counterpart to Izak's pessimism.

"She still manages to keep an optimistic, if not loopy, point of view," she said.

Matthew Perez, a Penn State lecturer in English, plays Izak, who he said is only trying to protect his wife with a more realistic outlook.

"His life is spiraling out of control and he's trying to protect it with the little that he has," Perez said.

The ambassador, Niles, played by English lecturer Adam Lupo, believes someone has taken Audrey hostage and comes searching for her, Johnson said, leading to the main conflict of the performance.

Albertson said she enjoyed working with the rest of the small cast as well as the director, Johnson.

"He enjoys the acting process, so it's not like he regards you as his pawns on the stage," she said.

The play was originally slated to be held in the basement of the Arts Building, but because of the School of Theatre's performance of Word Up!, Johnson moved it to the upstairs space of the State Theatre.