Sometimes a group of people have more in common than meets the eye.

Len Jenkin addresses this phenomena in his play “Dark Ride,” which will be playing at the Maintenance Shop theater, July 17 through July 19.

The play focuses on coincidence and how it plays a role in the lives of ten people who seem to have nothing in common.

Using a series vignettes, Jenkin brings to life the adventures and personalities of a group of rather eccentric characters.

While they have no idea their lives are at all related, they find themselves together in a hotel room in Mexico City at the end of the play.

One of these characters is Mrs. Lammle, a believer in the art of coincidence who thinks she may have the power to make things happen. Due to her obsession with the unknown, she travels around the world lecturing on the topic.

Another is the jeweler, who is intent on killing and stuffing the thief of his prize diamond. Mark Sutch, director of the production, explained that “Dark Ride” is not a conventionally styled play.

While the structure of the show may seem confusing, Sutch said, “It’s kind of like a mystery. It’s fun to piece it all together.”

Instead of holding auditions, Sutch selected his cast from a group of people he has worked with in the past.

“I had an idea of people I knew that could hold these roles,” he said.

Among them are Iowa State students, an ISU theatre professor, members of the Ames community and Rusty Poehner, coordinator of the Maintenance Shop.

Poehner said she joked with Sutch about doing another show at the M-Shop. Poehner told him she would let it happen if he had a part in it for her.

“Lucky for me, it happened,” she said. Poehner will be taking the stage as Deep Sea Edna, a carnie who travels around looking for her lost husband.

While music has become the focus of the M-Shop, Poehner said she is glad to have drama on the stage. In the early ’80’s before the creation of ISU theatre, the M-Shop often hosted major musicals and even had full theater seasons.

During Poehner’s first year at ISU, Sutch was one of the students who brought a directing project to her attention.

“I have always had a lot of respect for him as a director,” Poehner said.

Poehner said the black-box space in the Maintenance Shop is perfect for the show because performers can be very subtle and actually whisper on stage and still be heard.

It also allows for very adventurous staging, which was something she enjoyed while doing her undergraduate work at Drake. “It’s made for experimental things,” she said.

Sutch agreed the smaller space was well suited for the play. “It’s a lot more intimate here,” he said.

Poehner encourages everyone to come to the play along with other music and theater events held at the Maintenance Shop. “Things will be better here than somewhere else,” she said. “It’s just the nature of the space.”

Audience members will notice the stage of “Dark Ride” is very unusually shaped. While the typical stage in the M-Shop is rectangular, it didn’t work well for what Sutch was trying to achieve.

Instead, Sutch is using a runway- style stage with several other wings that radiate from it. He said this allows some distance between the scenes and may make the play a little easier to follow.

“It’s like a fun house in an amusement park. Things fade in and out from you,” Sutch said.

“Dark Ride” will begin at 9:00 p.m. each night. Due to limited seating, Poehner encourages people to come early. There will be no advance tickets or reservations.

“This show is here to be fun, to be kind of wild — to be something like you’ve never experienced in theater before,” Sutch said.