Naperville North's 'Jupiter and Orion' isn't your typical night at the theater

To say Naperville North's latest theater production isn't a traditional play is an understatement.

In fact, the actors and director call it downright weird.

"With me, theater is taking risks, and I'm taking a huge risk with this because I don't know how it's going to be perceived," director Bill Burghardt said.

"Jupiter and Orion" opens at 7 p.m. today and runs through Saturday at the high school, 899 N. Mill St.

Tickets are $6 for students and seniors and $7 for adults.

The show isn't actually one single play. It's a compilation of nine scenes from three different Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights - Lanford Wilson, David Mamet and David Auburn.

Burghardt chose the scenes, which typically stand alone, and put them together in the order of his choosing.

For example, in "No One will be Immune" by Mamet, a man thinks he is seeing a UFO. Another Mamet piece, "The Hat," is about a woman trying on outfits for an interview. In "The Wandering," from Wilson, the audience will see a man going through different stages in his life from being a teenager all the way to his death. Mamet's "LA Sketches" looks at bizarre moments in the film industry.

The final three scenes make mention of Jupiter, Orion or both, leading Burghardt to title the show as he did.

But these are no ordinary scenes, which the actors say made the production even more of a challenge.

To begin with, the writers use unusual dialogue. Senior Andrew Stachurski said at times one line doesn't really fit with the line before it, making it tough to memorize.

In addition, some of the scenes are open to interpretation so the way they play a scene in some cases isn't how they were playing it when they started working on the show.

"It was really interesting because being in one show that has a specific plot can sometimes get kind of boring after you have everything memorized and keep doing it over and over," said junior Devontae Weaver. "This show is full of things that are definitely out there and you have to observe for yourself to find out what it's trying to get across and it's always changing."

Burghardt typically reserves his summer shows for a small cast of his finest actors and says he hopes it got them to look at theater a little differently.

"I wanted to give them the idea a theater does not have to be tied up in a box with a bow," he said. ''Where everything is settled in the end, you know the butler did it, the ends are tied up."

Senior Jason TerMaat encourages audiences to check it out for themselves.

"I think an audience would want to come see this if they were sick of normal theater, wanted something new and could have something they could think about and get their head reeling and get them thinking," he said.