By Rema Atiya/se news editor

Funny and insane are two descriptions used frequently by the cast members of Crazy and a Half, which runs until Feb. 20 on SE Campus.

This D.R. Andersen play is made up of two acts with six one-act comedies built in that take a look at the crazy edge love has on people through therapists and their patients.

“Funny, intelligent writing, great characters and more specifically, there are lots of opportunities for the actors and the audience to relate to how crazy love can make us,” said John Dement, SE theater director.

Dement said that he cast talented people and that Andersen writes accessible characters for actors to play.

“This play was harder for me because I had more lines than everyone else and have just a short amount of time to get through them,” said Nick Levingston, who plays Dr. Keene Winfield. “I do relate to my character in certain ways. However, in real life, I am more spastic.”

Most students related to their characters in some way, which they said made it less difficult to get into the play.

“Even though the memorization is harder for me in this play, it was easier for me because I really identify with my character,” said Taylor Swift, who plays Candy Kane. “I identify so much with my character that my own speech pattern is similar to the way my character speaks.”

Act one, New York Crazy, begins with two patients fighting for the only appointment left in their shrink’s day, then presents a divorced couple in a custody battle and concludes with a shy Mafia wife who desperately wants to be happy.

“I really like being in ‘I’ll Take Manhattan,’ which is in the first one act, because I don’t think I would be able to relate to any other characters,” Levingston said.

In act two, California Crazy, the action shifts to the West Coast for three equally funny sessions: first, an annoyed psychiatrist tries to end therapy with a burned-out rock star, then an uptight therapist deals with a new client who isn’t there for therapy, and finally, a young couple seeks help from a husband-and-wife team of marriage counselors on the verge of divorce themselves.

“This is my first play at TCC, but I’m excited,” Willie Boaz said. “I play Dr. Kittleson in the one-act “Everywhere” who is the total opposite of me. However, I love this play. So along with everyone else, I have been giving it 120 percent.”

Joshua Dobelbower, who plays Dez Rage in ‘Everywhere’ and is also Boaz’s co-star, had to take on a British accent for his character in this one-act.

“I played Dracula at SE Campus, and it was hard to get the accent at first, but now the lower-class British accent is something that I just play with, and it got easier for me,” he said.

One of the actresses picked out who she would marry on stage and was delighted to pick the right person for the job as her wife and co-star.

“I am a lesbian in ‘You Ought To Be in Pictures,’” Courtney Morris, who plays Dr. Jane Goldin. “I was really excited because I got to pick who I was going to be working with.”

This play differs from other plays that the students perform, the cast members said.

Ryan Davila plays Teddy Moore in “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”

“Even though everything seems normal in the play, it is really very abnormal,” he said.

This performance contains profanity and guns in some scenes. The gun goes off with a loud popping sound.

“I do not recommend this play for young children,” Davila said. “There is not a lot of profanity, but there is quite a bit.”

This play is free for TCC students, faculty and staff, $6 for general audiences and $3 for seniors and non-TCC students. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Feb. 18-20 and 2 p.m. Feb. 19-20 in the Roberson Theatre on SE Campus.

For reservations, call the box office at 817-515-3599

“This is the chance to be entertained in a new way because many of our students have never seen a full-scale, live theatrical production, and there’s nothing better,” Dement said.