It’s comedy with a cause in Ruston.

Art Innovations and Lu Lu Productions will present a benefit performance of the Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney comedy, “Parallel Lives,” on Oct. 15-18.

All performances of “Parallel Lives” will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Jackie Cochran’s new studio, Art Innovations, located at 207 North Trenton St., two doors down from the Frothy Monkey Coffeehouse. Seating at the facility, which can hold about 40 people, will be on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 6:45 p.m. The show contains adult humor and is not recommended for children younger than 17.

The play, which will be directed by Tech’s coordinator of theater, Cherrie Sciro, and feature local actresses, Laura M. Beeman, a senior speech major from Bossier City and alumnae Tracy Brockman, Leigh Anne Chambers and Rebecca Taylor May, is an insightful comedy that will whisk the audience away through a series of vignettes in which four actresses play men and women struggling through the common rituals of modern life, ranging from heavenly angels planning the beginning of the world to barfly banter with characters named Hank and Karen Sue.

May, who received her master’s and undergraduate degrees in theater from Tech and has appeared in past Ruston Community Theatre performances, said she’s excited about the opportunity.

“It should be a lot of fun,” May said. “It deals with a lot of real-world issues and makes people think. And it’s for a good cause.”

All proceeds from the production will benefit the Keith Sadler Medical Fund, with a suggested $5 minimum donation at the door. Sadler, a former percussionist with the disbanded local music group Rusty Dreads and a teacher in Jonesboro, was recently hospitalized for about four weeks.

For more information on the production, e-mail lulu.productions@yahoo.com.

By T. Scott Boatright, News Bureau writer

Written by Judith Roberts