Offering everything from tragedy and drama to comedy and romance, the Suffolk theatre department’s annual Fall Showcase brought with it a cornucopia of theatrical delights.

Hosted Oct. 10-13 in the university’s studio theatre, the showcase featured four student-written and directed plays. The diversity of the plays’ themes ensured that the event provided a little something for all tastes.

It opened with Yesterday, a nostalgic story written and directed by Paige Monopoli.

The play follows a grumpy old man suffering from a bout of writer’s block. A former author now faced with writing his memoir in a nursing home, Sam Harper (Raphael Roy) begins to reminisce about the love of his life, Felicity (Stephanie Rubino), which helps to inspire him.

Set amidst the backdrop of Beatles’ songs, Yesterday flashbacks to when Felicity and a young Sam Harper (Eddie Hernon) first meet. Felicity also appears in a vision to the older Sam as well. Their encounter is genuine, and the chemistry between Felicity and Sam is heartwarming.

Afterwards came Conor R. E. Walsh’s Scalpel, Please, a quirky comedy about the  incompetent Dr. Honeyweather (Alex Pappas) who must perform surgery on the head of the Boston Mob (Nick Castellano).

The audience was then treated to the surreal set of “Daydream,” surely the most heavyhearted of the four. Written and directed by Tom Martin, the ambitious work discussed a mature body of themes, including family, death and faith.

Roy also played a leading role in Daydream, this time as a man whose father’s funeral reunites him with those he has been estranged from: a domineering mother (Laurie Riihimaki), a friend holding a dark secret (Rebecca Bernardo,) and an ill, but religious brother (Joe Graham.)

A surefire crowd-pleaser was the final play, “The Dangers of Eating Dessert Before Dinner,” written by Rachel Fund and directed by Alexa Costa. Resemblant of a sitcom, it followed Eli (Stephen Chueka,) a young man preparing to meet his girlfriend’s military father. Eli’s plans to introduce himself and his family as perfectly normal go awry when his parents accidentally snack on his sister’s (Sydney Grant) special brownies beforehand. 

Joe Graham and Katie Gast are hysterical as Eli’s quirky, but loving parents plagued by a case of the giggles and the munchies.  The performances of all four plays’ cast members were spectacular, and each actor brought a voice to their role.

Two actors stood out in particular for their versatility, Raphael Roy and Alex Pappas. Pappas was comical in Yesterday, as the irritating jokester, Mr. Rosetti, who tries to befriend Roy’s character, Sam. He also took the lead role in “Scalpel, Please” as Dr. Honeyweather.

Roy’s role as Dean in “Daydream” was thoughtful. He shared a vivid scene with Bernardo where he discussed his thoughts about the Bible. His performance was powerful as he tore pages out of it and questioned what it all meant.

With thoughtful performances and original pieces written by Suffolk students, the showcase was certainly an event worth attending.