Following its long tradition of witty, colorful and hilarious productions, the HPT has outdone itself yet again with its script for the 156th production, As the Word Turns, written by Michael Mitnick '06 and Kiernan Schmitt '06. This show takes place in a whimsical land, wherein three youthful dictionary-junkies compete for the coveted title of "Ultimate Spelling Bee Champion." The script introduces characters like Lynn Guist, Graham Uhr and Rich Bas'Tard, all of whom will be rivals, trying to outspell each other at every turn.

Like any good story, there is a love triangle here: Uhr is convinced Makova is the U to his Q, but it looks like the dim-witted, Christmas-obsessed Bas'Tard will throw a wrench in Uhr's plans! And the plot thickens: what happens when Graham realizes that the Spelling Bee is actually the setting for a nefarious plot to steal all vowels from the English language, crippling defense systems and leaving the door open to word-greedy Communists to paint the town-nay, the world-Red? Even with the help of the magical Diction Fairy and his trusty hound Old Speller, Graham may not be able to overcome the dastardly plotting of evil industrialist Neil B. Formey and his sexy Russian liason. Double agents and double-entendre abound in this colorful tale of love, lies, and letters.