Eric Pfeffinger’s new comic play explores the ideological and cultural differences between two young couples. When Keenan and Madelyn check in for a routine appointment at their fertility clinic, they are startled to learn that their fertilized embryo has been mistakenly implanted in someone else. They are brought face to face with Jim and Heather, a couple with whom they have nothing in common. While Keenan and Madelyn are NPR-listening, latte-sipping progressives, Jim and Heather are pick-up truck-driving, NRA card-carrying conservatives. For nine months, their worlds collide with some comedic delights and the acknowledgement that, even with the odds against them, they might not be all that different.

Director Richard Perez, Hope theatre faculty member, has been excited about this project from the beginning.

“The first time I read ‘Human Error’ I couldn't help but be moved by the story of two couples who, in normal circumstances, would probably never come together,” he said.  “And yet, because of their humanity, they learn that perhaps liberals and conservatives have a lot more in common than they realized.”

In addition to Perez, the production team includes theatre faculty members Michelle Bombe as costume designer, Perry Landes as lighting and sound designer, and Richard Smith as properties and scenic designer. Staff members Paul Anderson and Darlene Veenstra serve as technical director and costume shop manager. Students involved in the project include senior Victoria Ward of Vicksburg as assistant lighting designer and junior Megan Clark of Clymer, New York, as assistant sound designer and assistant properties designer. Sophomore Emmie Sandstedt of Lake Zurich, Illinois, is serving as stage manager and first-year students Violet-Rose Peschiera of Holland and Imants Cers of Western Springs, Illinois, as assistant stage managers.

The cast includes senior Akia Nyrie Smith of Grand Rapids, first-year student Kelsey Davis of Grand Rapids, sophomore Maxwell Lam of Holland, junior Rachel Dion of Clinton Township and first-year student Panayiotis Stavropoulos of Bloomfield Hills.

Tickets are $10 for regular admission, and $7 for senior citizens, Hope faculty and staff. Tickets are free for Hope College students and children 18 and under, and are available at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth Street). The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890. Patrons may purchase tickets in person, online, or by calling the ticket office.

The studio theatre is near the southeast corner on the lower level of the DeWitt Center, which is located at 141 E. 12th St., facing Columbia Avenue between 10th and 13th streets.

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