Humor, love and a family curse caused a ruckus in the plot of an 1880’s play.

The university’s Opera/Music Theatre Workshop presented “Ruddigore” on Feb 7-8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts. In this show, Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, played by Ryan Blanchfield, experiences heartbreak and confusion before marrying the woman he loves, Rose Maybud, played by Elizabeth Langley.

Jody Bennett Jr., who played as Sir Rupert Murgatroyd, shared that the show’s preparation started in December.

“During that preparation time, we had to actually learn an English dialect to be able to sing everything and speak everything in an English and British accent,” explained Bennett. “So, we started in December, and we came back two weeks before school began this semester, January 7 I believe, and we’ve been going hard ever since.”

Bennett also said that the cast had seven-hour rehearsals, five to six days per week once they came back in January. He thanks Rachel Harris, the stage director, and Jeremy Guillot, the stage manager, for their roles in the production.

Rachael Tullier, a freshman psychology major, said that she always enjoys the performances from the workshop, and she appreciated the modern twists included in the humor.

“You can definitely tell they took efforts to relate it, and there were jokes that related to things going on now,” shared Tullier. “So, there were the older jokes, and there were the ones from today. It all tied in really well.”