The backstage area of Fisher Theater fills with laughter as cast members of “Dearly Departed” listen to Philip Henry, who plays Ray Bud, complain about the beer can prop filled with water he had to drink from during dress rehearsal.

“There was something brown in the can,” says Henry, junior in performing arts. “It was disgusting.”

Director Robin Stone, assistant professor of music, pretends not to notice and continues to give notes about the rehearsal in the midst of more humorous complaints about props.

The cast cannot help but find humor in “Dearly Departed,” even when the joke is not supposed to be funny.

“It is a humorous, somewhat satirical look at rural, Southern American families,” Stone says.

The play, written by David Botrell, centers on a family who comes together for the funeral of the family’s patriarch. Stone says the interaction of the family members in this setting provides a telling look into their daily lives.

“It’s funny because it shows quirks in their lifestyles as well as how they deal with each other in everyday occurrences,” Stone says.

Kristin Harle, junior in liberal studies, plays Suzanne and says the play’s humor comes from the realistic nature of the characters and how well audience members will identify with them.

“There are characters that you could easily say, ‘That’s my uncle, that’s my aunt,’ and so on,” Harle says.

Rachael Rhoades, sophomore in performing arts, says she hopes the play will allow people to take a look into their own family’s life.

“I hope that it will give people something to talk to their family about on Thanksgiving,” Rhoades says.

Although much of the comedic value of Dearly Departed comes from the interaction between characters, some of the humor is much less subtle.

Ashley Lorenz, junior in performing arts, plays the 400-pound Delightful, and says her character’s sole purpose is comic relief.

Lorenz says her character was the result of “the final fling between the deceased and his wife.”

Rachel Miller, freshman in anthropology, plays Lucile. She says the play goes so far as to dictate how the characters interact with each other on a physical level in order to get the point of disjointedness across.

Miller says the distance between the characters is an important part of the play.

“If you notice, we don’t touch each other throughout the entire play,” Miller says. “Even though my character is a warm, motherly type of person that just wants to hug everybody, she can’t because of that distance in all the family members’ lives.”

Lorenz says she hopes the show will make people look at their lives in a more humorous way.

“I hope that people go home with a smile on their faces and think about perhaps reconnecting with the people that they’ve lost touch with in their lives,” Lorenz says.

Who: Dearly Departed

Where: Fisher Theater

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Dec. 3; 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 5

Cost: $7 students, $13 public