The Armory Free Theatre will host the play “Ride” at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in room 160 at the Armory. Sally Hamer, sophomore in FAA, is the play’s resident artist, and she is portraying one of its three characters. Joining her on stage are Margaret Kellas, sophomore in FAA, and Michelle Grube, senior in FAA.

“I first read the play in my acting class first semester, and we were just doing scene work, and my scene was from this play,” Hamer said. “I mostly picked it because I really liked the play, and it’s a play that a lot of people our age can relate to.”

Written by Eric Lane, “Ride” surrounds a story of three girls, Molly and Carrie, who are about 17 and 18, and Sam, who is 11. They decide to take a spontaneous road trip, which turns into more than just a typical car ride.

“There’s a lot about family and growing up, and I think it’s just a really good show for people our age at this time in our lives,” Hamer said. “And it’s a dark comedy — the subject material can get kind of heavy at times, but it’s still a funny show.”

Kellas plays Sam, who is Carrie’s younger sister.

“It’s been kind of challenging, because I don’t want to play it like the stereotypical 11-year-old,” she said. “I’m trying to incorporate how I would approach a situation that she’s in, and so that’s really my responsibility in the show.”

This production has three total actors in its entirety. This is one aspect that drew Hamer, Kella and Grube into the story. They plan to use this component to their advantage.

“It seemed like an interesting project for me at this point in my school career because this is my last semester here,” Grube said. “And I’m intrigued by (the play) because it’s just three people on stage the whole time, and there’s a lot of potential for them for a really great relationship to develop.”

There are usually about five or six shows each semester that run in the Armory Free Theatre. Each show is student-led; each interested student must propose a play, find actors and crew, and set up practices and rehearsals on their own time. After the show, they must strike down their set and remove their materials in a timely manner to leave a clean slate for the next show.

“We are given (Armory Theatre proposal sheets) last semester, and they ask questions like how are you going to fund this, who’s going to be in it, who’s going to direct it,” Kellas said. “Going into it, you have to have a good idea of what you’re going to do; they won’t just give you the space for fun.”

Since this is one of the first productions this semester at the Armory, the students had a little over a month to prepare.

The Armory Free Theatre is led by the University’s theater department, so each show receives a set amount of funding, depending on the cost of props, costumes and copyright fees for any copyrighted material.

Each production varies. For example, “Ride” is a copyrighted play, so paying for rights is compulsory, but student-written productions do not have copyright fees. Both plays and musicals are put on at the Armory Free Theatre, and each brings its own expenses and time commitments.

There is no official director of “Ride,” although Gina Dunn, senior in FAA, has been an overseeing contributor. In general, the three girls are in charge of heading the play and putting it together themselves.

“(The) three of us who are in it have been pretty much collaborating on almost all of the aspects of the show, so that’s been a great learning experience,” Hamer said. “We have a couple of girls helping us with sound and lighting, but for the most part, the three of us have been … collaborating and deciding what we think would best propel the story forward in each scene.”

Saturday’s performance of “Ride” is free and open to the public.

Reema can be reached at [email protected]