“Whispers of Bedlam” is an original play exploring what it means to be insane.

It opens this weekend at the Armory Free Theatre.

The small black box theater will be home to a large stone wall, elaborate costume pieces and a lot of crazy behavior.

Written by Alison Whitney Cook, senior in FAA, the project is the culmination of an enormous amount of research, and is also completely student-produced.

Cook’s writing explores power and manipulation within the Bedlam Asylum, a historical place allegedly too dirty for rats to live in.

The story revolves around Nathaniel Lee (Marko Tomic), a writer from the restoration period in England locked up in the Bedlam Asylum. The 17 member ensemble cast includes inmates, maids, galley maids and other characters involved with the asylum.

“The show is all about manipulation of power: somebody who works in this asylum might be more insane than an inmate,” Director Annah Feinberg, sophomore in FAA, said.

The actors have learned the British accent of the period and participate in unusual movements.

“The show really puts us in different mental place than we are used to,” Brett Emanuel, freshman in FAA, said.

Feinberg uses unconventional staging: there will be no curtains and some who attend may be sitting on a crate or a barrel.

The play explores relevant issues. Cook said, “This play focuses on the struggles of young people in a grown up world.”

Whether it’s through being in a classroom or dealing with a campus police officer, students deal with authority every day.

“This show discusses how our expressions are perceived by others,” Elanor Smith, junior in FAA, said.

“Bedlam is a place where the insane are silenced, because they are different. The asylum is a big flashing metaphor for society,” she added.

The themes and messages of this show are worth seeing.

“I think this show has a lot of deep meaning,” said Kevin Kurasch, sophomore in FAA, “but aside from that, ‘Whispers of Bedlam’ is great display of all that students can do.”

“Students created this show at every level of the process,” he added.

This show is the first student written production at The Armory Free Theatre this semester.

It is a more ambitious production than most Armory shows.

Part of Cook’s senior project was in raising over $2,000 for the show, making the sets and production values more elaborate than one might expect from a student-produced play.

“The Armory Free Theatre is great because it’s a space for the students,” Cook said.

“We’re free to do what we want and are not bogged down by traditions or conventions,” she added.

Performances for “Whispers of Bedlam” are on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and midnight and on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Also, the invited dress rehearsal is tonight.

The rehearsal is open to people who cannot make any of the weekend performances.

Tickets to this show are free and there are no reserve seats left.

Get there early for the best seats.