Pat Benatar sung it best with her song “Love Is A Battlefield.” The song also sums up “Cattywompus,” the latest play at Broom Street Theater, written by Justin Lawfer and Christina Beller.

In a few words, the play is the embodiment of Pandora’s box applied to a wedding scenario, with results like what’s seen on reality TV. Mike Willby, a stressed out groom, takes on the likes of his overbearing mother, Beatrice, and his brother, Richard — and Richard is just one of many personalities — to marry a character director Christina Beller dubs “the worst bridezilla.”

“There’s an awful lot going on. This is a comedy about anything that can go wrong in a wedding. …I think the tone is to find the humor and make light out of the not so perfect situations in life,” Beller said.

The play’s title draws significance from Beller’s past.

“Cattywompus was a word used in my family [when] something was strange, funny or off. The word is used to describe Richard’s personalities; his mother calls it going ‘cattywompus,'” Beller said.

The play’s origins were as unscripted as the seemingly chaotic chain of events that unfold as soon as the lights dim.

“It really was a spur of the moment type deal were I was daydreaming one day and these silly characters came into my head. I wanted to get them on paper so other people can get a kick out of [them] too,” Beller laughed.

The talents of Justin Lawfer helped to shape Beller’s imagined hilarity.

“The writing of it was great, and we worked well as a team,” Beller said. “Justin had a good understanding of where I was coming from. We both… wrote based on what we thought was funny, silly and entertaining.”

In addition to working with the cast, Beller fuels her lifelong passion for acting by playing two supporting roles in the production: Henrietta, senile friend to the mother of the groom, and a bridesmaid described as an up-to-date valley girl.

According to Beller, it has been a visionary experience to write the script and then direct the actors who, in Beller’s words, have “grown into the characters [and] are encompassing them beautifully.”

Actors like Shaun Petts, who in his second play at the Broom Street Theater plays the ‘multi-faceted’ Richard, have also benefited from Beller’s close involvement.

“I think that has helped tremendously to have the author right at your fingertips,” said Petts. “There’s a little more guidance, more answers to your questions.”

Anthony McKenzie plays protagonist Mike Willby, who he describes as “the boy-next-door type of guy who puts a lot of his energy into helping out other people.” Willby also happens to be by far the tamest character in comparison to his zany counterparts. However, Broom Street Theater, voted “Madison’s Favorite Theater,” is no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary characters.

“[Broom Street Theater] really encourages you to be creative… [and] make your own choices for the character,” Petts said.

According to Beller, Broom Street has a reputation for using actors in nonconventional ways during productions — in “Cattywompus,” actors play animals and even pieces of scenery.

“The individual characters [are]…going to stick with the audience; they are not your typical characters … The character dynamic is really great,” said Beller.

For Petts, playing Richard was also a stretch in creativity. After all, there is his “anal retentive” nature as well as his menagerie of alter egos, including the flamboyant Gustav and the quintessential nun stereotype that is Sister Rosemary, who Petts notes, “has no issue breaking out the ruler to get what she wants.” Portraying Richard proved to be a personal experience for Petts.

“I found I’ve needed to look a little deeper in myself. I can identify with some of the emotions Gustav and the other personalities feel. That creative process is a lot of fun; it’s a combined effort with everybody else,” Petts shared.

Whether enjoying the silly schizophrenic vibe of the play or laughing as Beatrice and her nursing home biddies experience the high of pot brownies, Beller and Lawfer’s play calls audiences to embrace eccentricities and realize everyone is just a little ‘Cattywompus.”

“Cattywompus” presented by the Broom Street Theater runs through Feb. 21.