A dark comedic plot launches the first of seven mainstage performances today.

The School of Theatre and Dance will perform “The Emigrants” today in the Holmes Student Center’s Diversions Lounge. The show will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays until Oct. 6.

“The Emigrants,” written by Polish dramatist Slawomir Mrozek, is the story of two impoverished men who flee their unnamed European country in sights of individual power and freedom. The dark, comedic plot takes the men on a journey to discover what makes a home, home.

This remount of Chicago’s Organic Theater Company’s summer performance features alumni Josh Anderson (as AA) and Joel Huff (as XX). The show is directed by Alex Gelman, who also directors the Organic Theater Company’s show. The two actors reprise their same roles from the Organic Theater Company’s two-person production.

Stage manager Romeo Jackson, a junior theater design and technology major, said School of Theatre and Dance students work as the crew members for the production.

“It’s different than the other shows we’ve done,” Jackson said. “None of us are the cast, just the crew members.”

Anderson and Huff said they are pleased to be performing together again at NIU.

“I love it here,” Huff said. “I’ve always respected the training that I got here, and it’s great to be back.”

Anderson and Huff received a master’s in acting from NIU in 2007, according to Huff. Since then the two have performed in cities as local as Naperville and as distant as Moscow, Russia. In Moscow, the two performed a three-person production of “The $30,000 Request.”

“We both went through the [acting study abroad] program here at NIU,” Huff said.

Anderson said he and Huff are used to working with a crew of one to two people, and having the students as crew members has been a pleasure.

“They’re fantastic,” Anderson said. “It’s really fun to be back and see the current students.”

The School of Theatre and Dance performance marks the third time the two have performed “The Emigrants” together.

“I love working with Joel,” Anderson said. “He’s so creative. It’s always a pleasure.”