In the Director’s Notes for “The Poet and the Rent,” Dakota James Gardner’s ’11 writes, “What we present to you tonight is done with love…[everyone involved is] doing it for the love of the art. Because it’s fun.” This sense of fun and “love” was obvious in the Friday night’s performance, a quick, high-energy ride that left this appreciative audience member buzzing and in high spirits.

“The Poet and the Rent,” a children’s play written by David Mamet and staged in the Nic Lounge last weekend, follows a young poet who goes on a quest to find work that will pay the rent, as his doubtful rhymes aren’t doing the job. Over the course of the play, he falls in love, finds a job as a factory guard, helps two thieves rob said factory, gets arrested, turns down a high-paying job, loses his girlfriend , turns things around suddenly with the help of a new benefactor and finishes off the play singing about his fortune with the whole cast in a big musical finale. In all, the play clocks in at approximately an hour, so you can imagine the frenetic pace.

The cast of “The Poet and the Rent” maintained a high energy level throughout and kept the audience involved in the exaggerated comedy. Dan O’Sullivan ’12, playing the poet, set the bar high from the moment he stepped onstage, at times literally quivering with a frantic intensity that threatened to cross into hamminess but never quite did.

The rest of the cast members managed to match O’Sullivan’s manic energy. Matt Seijas ’12, in the role of policeman Spuds O’Malley, was particularly hilarious, keeping the audience in stitches as he flailed around the stage, ranting about potatoes in a dubious (read: entertaining) Irish accent. Emily Levine ’11 and Will Levitt ’12 worked off each other nicely as a pair of thieves, and Max Slater ’11 provided some deadpan humor that complemented his castmates’ louder styles. Mandy Goldstone ’12 won the good sport award hands down, receiving at least five pies in the face in her role as the narrator. Eleanor Blakeslee ’11, Blair Laurie ’12, Claire Maguire ’12 and Lisa Sussman ’09 rounded out the cast, each bringing something slightly different to the show as a whole.

Overall, the show had an informal atmosphere and a spontaneity that brought an element of sketch comedy to the story. And everybody—the cast and the audience—just ran with it. The cast clearly recognized the play’s silly, random spirit; because of this, the play worked as a satire of theatrical conventions. But more than anything else, the play was plain old fun to watch, and provided a short, sweet escape from real life.

While “The Poet and the Rent” may not be the most sophisticated production we’ll see this year, it was low-budget student theater at its best. Approaching it with the right attitude was the key to appreciating its best qualities: humor, a sense of fun and genuine heart. The cast and crew of “The Poet and the Rent” deserve kudos for not taking themselves too seriously, and for giving audience members what they came for: entertainment.