What do songs from “The Sound of Music,” alcohol, marijuana, skydiving, family therapy, writing, mussels, Italian and music have in common? In Craig Lucas’s “Blue Window,” all of these are present at a dinner party of seven friends and acquaintances. Quite simply, it’s the dinner party from hell.”Blue Window” is this year’s senior theatre company’s chosen play, running April 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. in Sternberger Auditorium.

The play opens with people in five different apartments preparing for a dinner party hosted by Libby, played by senior Allison Martin. From the opening scene, the tension between the characters is palpable.

Libby continually calls Griever, played by senior Kevin Smithey, to ask his advice on the drinks and how to prepare the food and finally calls the party off, saying she’s not ready.

“I’m going to the movies; I got sick and died,” Libby says in one phone conversation with Griever.

“No amount of burnt food, bad wine, cheap cocaine or hidden furnishings can prevent the truly convivial spirit from having a pleasant evening in the company of his or her peers,” Griever replies, in an attempt to calm Libby down.

One of the play’s themes is the obvious attempts by the characters to connect to one another at the dinner party.

“What’s interesting is that every conversation is interconnected in a way,” said senior Doug Grenier who plays Norbert. “Like these conversations, in a way, are trying to relate to each other.”

This is most apparent in the play’s final scene, where many characters say the same things at or near the same time, in an effort to establish communication that rarely works.

“(The play is) also about vulnerability and creates feelings between people and bridging the space between two people and I think we all found that relevant,” said senior Ben Storey, who plays Tom. “Not necessarily in a political or activist way but in a very deep, personal way.”

“Blue Window” also exhibits instances of deep conflicting emotions in many scenes.

“I actually read a quote by the playwright Craig Lucas — I’m paraphrasing but it was something like, ‘I believe that life is a mix of great joy and great sorrow,'” said Martin. “I think that this play is sort of a celebration of that in a way in that it has moments of great joy and moments of great sorrow but it’s all about the interpersonal connections that we have are what help get us through life.”

As the culmination of two semesters of work, each member of the Senior Company spent a great deal of time reading plays in order to find one they liked best.

“This is a two-semester project and the first semester of our senior year we worked on play selection. We read a bunch of plays and try to find one that fits for us acting-wise and technically-wise and what we think has the most significant meaning for the audience and for us as well. And this one was what we liked best,” said senior Mary Pearl Monnes, who plays Alice.

The play is produced entirely by the Senior Company, from set design to costume design and everything in between, and while they did ask Jack Zerbe and David Hammond, both professors of theatre studies, to give them pointers, “Blue Window” has no director.

“We don’t have a director because this is our capstone project; the nine of us are either performance track or technical track and those are the positions we’ve filled,” said senior Gail Kelly, who plays Emily. “This is really a project about collaboration, using the tools we’ve learned the past four years. Because this play is so intricately layered, we have definitely faced challenges without a director, but it is all part of the learning experience.”

Seniors Michael Peeples, Carla Farson, Mary Beth Howington, Martin, Kelly, Smithey, Monnes, Storey, and Grenier have put a lot of hard work and dedication into bringing “Blue Window” to life.

“I hope the audience enjoys this production and appreciates all the hard work we have done,” said Peeples. “As far as what went into making it happen, (the answer is) a lot of time and hard work and cooperation from everyone. There was a lot of research involved that led us to make certain choices. In fact, a lot of decisions had to be made. (In) casting, we spent hours testing combinations making sure the chemistry was right.”

The play has moments that everyone can relate to and understand, especially other seniors.

Howington, who is both production and stage manager, said, “I think a lot of us felt ties to this one in that it’s sort about going off into your own world, and since we’re all seniors and we’re about to leave, it sort of tied into that feeling.