Dave Rudolph, left, and Mike Acquavita rehearse their swordplay for Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors," which will be staged by the Butler County Community College drama club Feb. 17 and 18 at the Succop Theater on campus. The student-run production is the first play presented by the drama club in a number of years.

BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College drama club students are making decisions about whether their characters belong in the middle class or the upper middle class.

It makes a difference as they find Shakespearean costumes for the first entirely student-run production of the Pioneer Players at BC3 in a number of years.

"The Comedy of Errors" opens Feb. 17 at the Succop Theater on campus.

Mollie O'Donnell, student director, said she talked to Pioneer Players adviser Maggie Stock throughout the summer about reinvigorating the drama club.

The club has existed since the late 1980s, but it has had its highs and lows. Recently, it had not been active.

O'Donnell, who hopes to continue to further her education in drama and theater after her May graduation, convinced Stock, an English teacher at BC3, to work with the Pioneer Players.

The club elected officers and incorporated a fall dinner theater into its calendar, O'Donnell said.

Stock is co-directing with Don Rasely. Stock said she chose the story of mistaken identity because it is a play everyone can laugh at.

"It doesn't matter that it's Shakespeare written in 1590," Stock said. "It's still funny."The script also has the fewest number of lines of the Shakespearean comedies.O'Donnell said at times it has been a challenge for the actors to learn the lines.Crystal Funk, who plays Jerome of Prospect, said she is working hard on making the unnatural language flow.O'Donnell said the other cast members have come to her ask just what they are saying as they recite their lines.All the cast members are working to make the play flow, so when the audience watches, it will easily understand the plot, O'Donnell said."Once you listen to five minutes of the play, you don't even notice it's Shakespeare," O'Donnell said.O'Donnell plays the character Aemelia, a mother separated from her twins, who becomes a nun. In addition to the language challenge, O'Donnell has had to work on appearing old enough to be the mother of college-aged twins.O'Donnell said she's doing this through "make-up and thinking mature thoughts."To make her look like an older woman living in an abbey, she's needed the help of costuming and the technical director, Carrie Kasenter.Kasenter, a nursing student, is coordinating the sets. She's designed and helped build a stationary set and worked out lighting details that cue the audience to whether a scene is taking place in the morning or evening.When designing the set, students looked at pictures of period towns, Kasenter said."It's going to be as authentic Shakespearean era as possible," she said.The curtain will go up on the reinvigorated BC3 drama club production at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 and 18. Show tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students.The hospitality management students will host a pre-show dinner before the Feb. 17 performance at the BC3 Convocation Center. Pre-sale tickets for the dinner are $15.For information or tickets, call 724-285-8505 or visit the Web site at www.bc3.edu.