Theater can be fun. If we're lucky, theater can be extremely fun. Then there are those shows that are so much fun that their energy becomes palpable, takes over the entire theater and unites actors and audiences for a truly joyous occasion. This was the case with Hillel Theater Group's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a show rife with energy, spectacle, song and comedy, and it was clear the audience was having just as much fun as the actors.The surprisingly complex and convoluted plot of Forum is intentionally intricate, since it is a "comedy," as clearly stated to the audience during the play's opening scene. The main character, Pseudolus (David Frederick '11), steps out to greet the audience during this bit. He explains that they will be in for a "Comedy Tonight," the first and most rousing musical number of the play.

The show centers around three households, one of which is home to Pseudolus, who is a slave to a young Roman named Hero (Levi Squier '14) and his parents, Domina (Abigail Clarke '13) and Senex (Christopher Knight '14). Hero falls in love with one of the subjects-or prostitutes, rather-of the second house, that of Marcus Lycus (Isaac Rabbani '14) who sells off his women to the highest bidder. The woman in question is the beautiful but airheaded Philia (Jackie Theoharris '14) and Hero will do anything to have her; the problem is she has already been sold to the conceited Roman warrior Miles Gloriosus (Justy Kosek '14). Pseudolus devises a plan to bring Hero and Philia together, with the promise from Hero that if he is successful, he will earn his freedom. From there shenanigans ensue, as Hero and Philia encounter continuous obstacles. The creator of many of these problems is Hero's head slave, Hysterium (Herbie Rosen '12), who is absolutely determined to be the best servant ever. Then there is the occupant of the third house, the elderly Erroneous (Zev Hait '14), who has left to rescue his children from pirates, whose significance aren't revealed until a comic twist at the end of the show. What is presented here is a plethora of wonderful characters and rip-roaring circumstances that can be a bit overwhelming to keep track of, but ultimately extremely rewarding if you do.

The actors all gave top-notch performances; Frederick does a phenomenal job as Pseudolus, bringing an air of virtue and contrasting it with great comedic timing. He also has a wonderful singing voice that carries him through several solo pieces. Squier brings a great sense of earnestness and yearning to Hero, balanced by his romantically inclined singing voice. Theoharris proves to be his superb counterpart, bringing a hilarious aura of na'veté to Philia that adds to her extreme likability.

The supporting characters all give great performances, including the Eunuchs of Lycus' house (Andrew Litwin '11 and John Schnorrenberg '14), who steal the show every time they're onstage-but the true standout is Rosen, who brings a phenomenal, harebrained insanity to Hysterium, his desire to the keep the peace always leading him to burst out into frenetic hysterics. He also gets some of the best lines in the show ("I live to grovel!"; "More bad news-" [Hysterium interrupts] "It better be good!") delivered with great energy.

Rosen commented to justArts after the show on how much fun it was to play Hysterium. "This character is everything," he enthused, "Hysterium gets a part of all the action in almost every scene. He can freak out and dress in drag, and it's just so much fun. Hysterium, hysterical! I was in love with the character. It's one of the best I've ever played."

Rosen's enthusiasm seemed to be shared by the whole cast, and indeed the cast's best quality was not in the actors' singular performances, but in how well the group came together and played off on one another. They also did a marvelous job with Stephen Sondheim's masterful musical numbers, particular in group pieces such as "Comedy Tonight," "Free," "Lovely," "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" and "Finale." Some of the solo pieces were a bit shakier but did not detract from the show, which in its entirety was too entertaining to be derailed by small distractions.

One of the most impressive aspects of the show was the choreography by Beth Green '12, which reached its height during the climactic chase sequence in which every character ran back and forth through the various doors on stage. The setup of the three houses provided an excellent backdrop for door access, and indeed the doors were positioned in such a way that they allowed excellent potential for a full-out Scooby-Doo-style chase sequence. It was a chance for each character to shine. "We wanted to get everyone involved, but we also didn't want it to be super fast-paced," Green said, commenting on how this sequence was structured. "The audience had time to give and take, and [we wanted] to [use] characters that aren't really played up in other versions of the show. We tried to bring them out, and give each actor a chance to be their character."

Squier also commented on the chase scene, sharing a particularly hilarious story about a moment of fun the cast had during rehearsals. "We ran that so many times . and people would start losing it a little bit, so that's where half of our base came from-people just [messing] around," he said. "Initially [Knight] was just supposed to get chased out backwards, but one time he runs back, trips over the bench and falls onto it-and keeps going, falls off onto the floor, and [army-crawls] out, and we [just shout] 'Chris, you can do it!'" This moment of spontaneous mistake turned hilarity is exactly the sort of essential building block in producing a fun show that can reach beyond any limitations and that's exactly what Forum did.

For director Lizzy Benway '14, the culmination of everything she and her team had been working for was when the cast first stepped out on stage. "Opening night for me [was when] everything came together. Everyone for the first time was on stage with an audience, everyone opened up and was in their character. Everything clicked and worked so well, and I couldn't ask for anything more." I think the audience would agree.