When: 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays from Oct. 20-Nov. 5

Where: Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Avenue, Sequim

Tickets: $16 for adults and $12 for students (with school ID)

Olympic Theatre Arts is kicking off its 2017-2018 main stage season with a fast-paced, Victorian spoof filled with outrageous humor.

“The Explorer’s Club” set in London in 1879 and written by Nell Benjamin, features a cast of seasoned actors and introduces new talent to Olympic Theatre Arts main stage.

The show is set to run on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Sundays from Oct. 20-Nov. 5 at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Avenue. Preview night is set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19 and Pay-What-You-Will night is set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26.

“It’s silly stuff,” Director Olivia Shea said.

“Hopefully the audience will think ‘this gets us out of our normal life,’” even if it’s for a couple of hours, she said.

Shea said the play is a farce aimed to entertain the audience through a lot of physical humor and tongue-in-cheek dialogue.

The plot revolves around the all-male Explorer’s Club when the club’s pompous president Harry Percy, played by newcomer Greg Scherer, proposes female anthropologist Phyllida Spotte-Hume, played by Liz Duval, for membership.

“A major disruption in the Explorer’s Club — which is a gentlemen’s club — is when one of the members proposes a woman explorer for membership,” Richard Hendricksen, cast as Sir Bernard Humphries, said.

“Times are changing and we are trying to move with the times,” Scherer said. “Most importantly we have a terrible bartender.”

Hendricksen said more threats come to the Explorer’s Club when Phyllida brings back a savage named Luigi, played by Dave McInnes, who causes an incident at the Queen’s palace.

“I read the script and I couldn’t stop laughing,” Duval said.

She also plays Phyllida’s twin Countess Glamorgan and said the humor in this play is reminiscent of Mel Brooks and Monty Python.

“If somebody says, ‘that could never happen’ it’s about to happen,” Duval said.

The rest of the production’s cast features Colby Thomas as Lucius Fretway, Josh Sutcliffe as Professor Walling, Pat Owens as Professor Cope, by Carl Honore as Professor Sloane and Joe Shultz as explorer Beebe.

Preview night is free to members and the premiere night with a reception is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20. The show also runs at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 and Saturdays, Oct. 21 and 28 and Nov. 4. Sunday matinees run at 2:00 p.m. on Oct. 22 and 29 and Nov. 5.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for students with a school ID available from 1-5 p.m., Monday-Friday at the theater’s box office, 414 N. Sequim Avenue, Sequim or online at olympictheatrearts.org. For more information, call 360-683-7326.

Carl Honore playing Professor Sloane, Colby Thomas cast as Lucius Fretway and Josh Sutcliffe as Professor Walling rehearse a comical scene from “The Explorer’s Club” set to play from Oct. 20-Nov. 5 at Olympic Theatre Arts. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins