Classic fairy tale characters were represented by a man-child lost in his own fantasies, a woman with bestiality charges and anger issues, and a mad scientist posing as a concerned psychiatrist.
These characters were part of “Storybook Asylum,” an original play written by senior Chelsea Krause. The last show hosted by Alpha Psi Omega, a national theater society, took place April 3 at 7 p.m. in the Pottle Recital Hall.  
“I was excited to see my work sort of come to life and everything,” said Krause. “It was a really great experience, I think we did a really great job. So I’m just happy that people got to see it and give feedback. I hope that it takes off from here.”
The production of the play began with a contest. Krause hopes to have her play published after receiving feedback from performances.
 “It started off when I was entering into a playwright competition,” said Krause. “The original was actually much, much shorter. I wound up winning, and they asked me, ‘Hey, we really like this, can you expand it more?’ So I wound up expanding it into a short one-act, but much longer than the original.  It took several months of work-shopping it to get it to the point that it is now. And now it’s on stage a year later after it was written.”
Her future plans include moving to New York to pursue acting and playwriting. One of her plays, which still has a working title, is already en route to be completed next year, and will be a prequel about Peter Pan before he arrived at Neverland.
“You can say I like doing fairy tale plays,” said Krause.
The cast, directed by Veronica Gutierrez, starred Tiray Dove, Jessica Baronich, Taylor Michel, Lindsay Picou, Trey Tycer, Emily Nodine and Kelsey Hymel. The majority of the cast has never been in a show before.
“We casted a lot of new talent,” said Krause. “Very talented talent. It’s a very condensed performance in a very small space, which is very vital. It’s not in a typical venue. We rehearsed on another stage and came in here, they’ve never rehearsed in here before. It’s a very on-the-fly production, very quick and cool but with a brand new, very talented cast.”
The eccentric nature of the characters posed a challenge to the actors playing them.
 “I was actually anxious because it’s the very last show,” said Baronich, who played Goldie Locks. “I thought, ‘I really hope I do well in this one.’ I got rid of all the doubts and everything in my head and just went with it. It’s kinda hard for me to get into character because I’m so outgoing and jubilant all the time, and my character is very reserved and very to herself, yet kind of anxious and angsty because she’s so fed up with everything so it’s kinda hard to transition from ‘happiness’ to ‘leave me alone.'”
Other actors embraced the vibrant personalities of their characters as an exaggerated expression of their own personality.
 “I felt good,” said Michel, who played Peter Pan. “I actually came into the show with terrible attitude. I had a horrible day, and I went into the show with the most amazing feeling. For me, it wasn’t too hard [to get into character] because Peter Pan is very much like myself; I am a giant child. The only thing is having to differentiate the way he acts from the way that I act. So I think that was the hardest thing.”
Krause has written another play which is set to be produced next year.