Comedy will be celebrated in seven forms tonight, in City College’s performance of “Lives of the Saints.”

“Lives of the Saints,” directed by Rick Mokler, are seven mini-plays packed into one evening. The seven include “Enigma Variations,” “Captive Audience,” “Soap Opera,” “Babels n’ arms,” “Time Flies,” “Arabian Nights,” and “Lives of the Saints.” The plays do not interconnect and are approximately 10-20 minutes each. Each mini-play sends its own comical message and is enjoyable for all audiences.

“There’s something wonderful about laughter,” Director Rick Mokler said. “Lives of the Saints most definitely portrays that…it’s going to be a different evening.”

The scripts for the seven mini-plays are unique and amusing. Tonight, one can expect to see two construction workers trying to build the tower of Babel, two mayflies who fall in love and discover they will only live until the end of the day, two Polish women who prepare a breakfast for a funeral in their basement, a washing machine repair man who falls in love with his Maytag washing machine and an Arabian interpreter who through distorted interpretation finds two people in love.

“How do you think of this stuff, I don’t know,” Mokler said with a chuckle.

Mokler added that the cast has been rehearsing for about 6 and a half weeks and all 14 cast members are City College students, unlike the City College Theatre Group.

For many of the cast, this will be their first big production, Mokler said. No serious physical changes were needed for this production, but a few haircuts were required.

“The costumes really sell the show,” Mokler said.

For “Lives of the Saints,” Mokler added that they had the freedom to make the costumes “more goofy.”

The set will be simple for the production, with a mostly “working environment.” There will also be a painted montage on stage of famous comedians such as Lucille Ball and Bill Cosby, in order to signify the “Saints of Comedy.”

“In a way, it’s like they’re being rewarded for their comedy and being able to make people laugh,” Mokler said.

There is also a lot of fun music for the production, featuring music from Big Bad Voodo Daddy and more. In between plays, Mokler said there will be swing dancers performing in order to keep the mood fun and upbeat, even during downtime.

Mokler mentioned the biggest challenge for this production is containing laughter during scenes.

“People crack up too much in rehersals,” he said. “The hard thing is they have to make us laugh, but they don’t get to. Comedy is a real challenge.”

The production will run Nov. 30 through Dec. 10 in the Jurkowitz Theatre. For more ticket information, call the box office 965-5935.