Since reviving the traditional mockery of the University known as the Revels, the show’s producer Lee Behnke has encouraged students to participate in production and performance in a show that used to be entirely off-limits to students.

“Half the University was left out,” said Behnke, a professor in the Classics department.

Past themes of the Revels have included the mob, arctic adventures, cabaret, University architecture, operatic shows, and pantomime.

This year’s show is entitled “The Last Place on Earth,” and references the Oriental Institute (O.I.). The plot features an O.I. researcher and two scholars getting lost in a tropical paradise, with encounters with the native chief and his daughter.

Behnke said that faculty members are “dying for an escape… [the Revels] is a wonderful release from heavy academics.” To those who deem themselves above such frivolity, Behnke reminds that “making fun of oneself is a worthy goal.”

This year’s Revels were written by professor of philosophy Ted Cohen and his wife Andy Austin Cohen. The show is directed by Andy Austin Cohen, with music by Ted Cohen, professor Robert Ashenhurst of the GSB, and composer Julian Harvey.

The Last Place on Earth: Revels 2006 appears this Friday January 27 and Saturday, January 28, with student tickets available with ID on Friday night. Regular tickets are $20 on Friday night, and Saturday performance includes dinner and the show for $65. To reserve tickets, call (773) 702-2550.

The Revels is presented by and at the Quadrangle Club.