"It's my baby," says Samantha Harper, President of MIT's Experimental Theater Company. "Aside from lights, sound, and set design, I was involved in every part of the production."

And while it has experimental in the name, this group is clearly not just experimenting with putting on plays. In just one month, the small cast has nailed the lines; the crew has timed the lighting (all done by hand, no automated tricks) just right; and all the kinks have been ironed out. On Halloween weekend, they sell out shows three days in a row.

By Saturday, they're tired, but the mood in the dressing room is still upbeat. As curtain call grows closer, the last few missing cast members trickle in. Up late the night before, they explain. The fact that the play is happening successfully is a compelling argument for time travel – how else could the cast and crew have prepared such an elegant production while managing full course loads?

Jade Philipoom, who played the character of Ginny, one of the two leads, explains that she joined the play as a "declaration of independence" from school work. "Theater is something that I did in high school, but I didn't really do it at MIT, because I had a lot of work to do [...] This was a theater production that was sort of a shorter time scale, and I thought it would be a good thing to audition for."

One of the biggest advantages Jade sees to ETC is the flexibility of working with a small group.

It was a very collaborative process. I could say, "I don't like this line, let's change it," and we'd change it.

This is by design, says Samantha. For the last two years, she'd been toying with the idea of a group "where people can express their art in a contemporary and modern way." The closest existing group, Dramashop, is run by faculty and staff. ETC is the first group that encourages students to write, direct, design, and produce their own plays.

"Now, Then, Again" is their first play, but ETC is not limited to stage productions. They're planning on starting a do-it-yourself magazine for student photos and writing. Unlike Rune, or Voodoo, Samantha sees the "zine" as allowing for a greater range of artistic expression. "Students have a lot to say, and we should have a place to say it."

With their first production, ETC has made a great start towards that goal. Brian Tom, who played the character of Henry, an antisocial, awkward, almost agoraphobic physicist, only started acting this past Spring. He really appreciated the chance to work alongside more experienced actors like James Giles, who played the character of Chris, Ginny's husband, and the last part of the love triangle on which the plot centers. Pictured here, James and Brian practicing "the punch" — fake, but the way Brian hit the floor was not.

James knew what he was doing, and he didn't want me to get hurt. The last play I was in I got side-kicked a couple of times. That was a little too real for me.

Also not fake was the talent of the crew behind the scenes. The play was practiced and performed in one of the Kresge auditorium rehearsal rooms; not a particularly beautiful space. But with a few standing lights, some well-placed props, and careful attention to detail, Megan Russel, Sarah Coe, Dan Epelbaum, Nathan Gutierrez, and Steph McHugh worked their magic. The lighting transitions had to be done manually because the control board they used didn't have enough memory to hold all of the transitions in the play.

And certainly not unnoticed was the ever-present touch of Neerja Aggarwal, the play's director. Although "Now, Then, Again" was written by a professional, Neerja led the cast in making the play their own. Together, she and Samantha ran a tight ship, not hesitating to stop rehearsal and work with actors to address issues as they arose.

But of course, it's not that simple. Ginny ends up working with Henry (played by Brian), a brilliant but socially crippled graduate student, who pursues his theoretical work on time travel instead of the research for which he's received funding. Their boss, Dr. Trousant (played by Phillip Ai), forces them to team up and work together.

It's dislike and distrust at first sight for Ginny and Henry. But eventually, they grow closer, in part due to the long hours they spend at the hospital bed of Felix, the lab's crazy janitor. Felix is dying of a brain tumor, and experiences visions of an alternate reality in which Henry and Ginny are madly in love.

In another twist, the story is told in a particular, non-linear order. Some scenes are repeated, largely the same but with different outcomes, over the course of the play. Does Ginny love Henry? Or does she love Chris?