Southeast Missouri State University theater professor and "Daisy Pulls It Off" director Michael McIntosh said he wants audiences to experience three things when they see the show: fun, adventure and laughter.

"That's number one," he said.

The Department of Theatre and Dance's main stage play will show at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Wendy Kurka Rust Flexible Theatre at the River Campus.

McIntosh described the show as a British spoof on something out of a Nancy Drew novel. He added it has a similar comedic approach to a Monty Python sketch.

The storyline follows Daisy Meredith, an "elementary school pupil" awarded a scholarship to the very selective Grangewood School for Young Ladies.

"It's Hogwarts but with no magic and no boys," McIntosh said.

Meredith is the first public schoolgirl admitted without having to pay, and she comes face-to-face with the prejudices of her peers, bringing to surface an underlying theme of classist opposition.

"It's all about her being true to herself and succeeding," McIntosh said. "In the end she succeeds. She pulls it off."

McIntosh understood the show's satire. He wanted it to be "riotously funny." He reinforced it by casting some men in female roles for a typically all-girl play.

McIntosh also cast Roxanne Wellington, an assistant professor of acting and voice at Southeast, for the part of Miss Gibson.

And like any good show, it didn't come without some sort of challenge.

Coline Duncan, playing the title role, said grasping the British accent wasn't so hard compared to making sure it would be clear for an audience.

"You're dealing with an audience that doesn't hear a British accent every day, so you just have to be very, very articulate," Duncan said.

Duncan said she's typically cast for more dramatic roles, so tackling something funny was an exciting undertaking as an actress. She embraced delving back into the carefreeness and imaginative nature of youth.

According to McIntosh, there was a learning curve for the show's 1920s setting as well.

"There's a whole 1920s style of how people moved, how people talked, how people saw the world," McIntosh said. "It gives you a lot of research opportunities."

There's a lot of moving parts on set. McIntosh said there's hidden trapdoors, things popping up out of nowhere and a field hockey match that happens centerstage.

He said the Rust Flexible Theatre is just the right size for the audience to catch everything going on at once, too.

"Every seat in this house is a great seat," McIntosh said, gesturing across the black-box theater.

The space is intimate enough to support the closeness necessary when actors are speaking directly to the audience as well.

"Daisy Pulls It Off" is the first show McIntosh has directed at Southeast, but he said overall the process has ran smoothly.

"Putting on any show is a lot of hard work, and it takes a lot time," McIntosh said. "We've been rehearsing for five weeks, but when you really love what you do, like I love what I do so much, it doesn't matter. ... Putting on any show is a monumental task, but it's a task of love, a task of joy."

Seeing students learn, break out of the box and grow as artists -- that's his favorite part of the job.

He credited his cast as all pros. They "hit the ground running." In their willingness to work hard and their avid desire to always learn something new, he said they're the ones inspiring him.

"It's a joy for me to come to work every day," McIntosh said.

"Daisy Pulls It Off" will play Wednesday through Sunday. Tickets are available at the River Campus Box Office, open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., by calling (573) 651-2265 or online at RiverCampusEvents.com. General admission tickets are $15 or $3 on presentation of a Southeast student ID.