Imagine a story filled with cunning deception, politics and murder.

Then add a few graduate students, some tomatoes and an amusingly comedic slant, and the product is the Mercury Players Theatre’s production of “The Last Supper.”

Opening Jan. 21 at the Bartell Theatre, the show is promising to be a simultaneously giggle-inducing and thought-provoking piece of farcical fun. While featuring the realistic set production of Joel Stone, a Bartell regular, it might be said that the play’s true setting is the current political climate, which is admittedly evolving on a daily basis. The script, originally a screenplay written by Dan Rosen, has been updated multiple times since its initial production in 1995 when it was released as a film with the same title.

After catching a glimpse of the film on the Independent Film Channel, the show’s director, Douglas Holtz, was hooked.

“As soon as I saw the film, I immediately asked myself, ‘I wonder if there’s a stage version?'” Holtz said in a recent interview with The Badger Herald.

He found himself at once intrigued by the principles and morals of the piece, as well as the comedic elements of the writing itself. He dug up a version of the script updated this past November and set forth to tackle it with a talented cast of 12 at the Mercury Players Theatre.

Holtz himself has been involved with the Mercury Players Theatre for several years, participating in all aspects of production. He has acted in shows, and “The Last Supper” is his second foray into directing with the company. He is currently working on writing his sixth play for Mercury, and noted he has great respect for the original script by Dan Rosen being brought to life by this production. Holtz is eagerly anticipating Rosen’s visit to the Bartell Theatre for one show of the four-weekend run.

“The Last Supper” takes place in the home of five liberal graduate students at a university, who “through a twist of fate, find themselves hypothesizing about whether it would just be better to deal with the other side of the political fence through violence,” Holtz said.

This extremely topical material strikes a chord with the political events of late, and Holtz certainly expects it to live up to its status as a slightly twisted dark comedy.

“It takes the subject of murder – politically motivated murder – and makes it funny,” Holtz said.

“The Last Supper” is loosely based on the plotline of a well-known 1939 farce, entitled “Arsenic and Old Lace,” in which two spinster aunts murder lonely old men by poisoning them with glasses of homemade wine. However, in this show, the dinner guests in question are members of the radical right wing, given a chance to reform their political views by the time dessert rolls around, or risk being unknowingly poisoned by the liberal grad students with whom they’ve been invited to dine.

Feeling as though he got lucky with the abundance of actors who answered the casting call for the production, Holtz expects a level of sincerity and truthfulness from his cast, emphasizing the importance of reality in this play.

“It’s the realism that draws people in,” Holtz said.

The idea of dealing with the other side of the political spectrum through violence is especially relevant, given the recent situation in Arizona, as well as the overall national political atmosphere. It’s a contemporary topic at the front of the public’s mind, and “The Last Supper” isn’t stepping gently around these particularly difficult questions.

The director hopes the show will be a subtle – or perhaps not so subtle – reminder to consider these issues.

As Holtz said, “What happens when the discussions stop, and the fists start flying? And at the same time, what happens when your politics overtake your morals”?

“The Last Supper” will be playing at the Bartell Theatre from Jan. 21 through Feb. 12. Tickets are $15.