The Ballard High School drama department is taking a risk on a new, never-staged work by a young playwright for their fall play.

"Even the title alone I though was a little risque for high school," said Jennifer Delaney, head of the drama department at Ballard. "But who knows, maybe more people will come to see it."

"Around the World in 80 Beds" was written in 2006 by then-Ballard High School senior David Kulcsar. The script won him an award from the Young Playwrights Project and was professionally read by the Seattle Dramatists but it has never been fully performed.

This is the first time in her eight years at the school that the major performance won't be a classic or well-known play or musical, Delaney said.

Kulcsar was shocked that his play, about an American bachelor in England trying to hide three ex-girlfriends from each other during a dinner party with his potential wife, was so well received immediately.

"I was surprise, but it was exciting," Kulcsar said. "It gave me a direction, really, in how I wanted to continue in my theatrical career."

The award for "Around the World" gave Kulcsar new opportunities and connections in the Seattle theater community he said.

He said he was inspired by English comedians like John Cleese and Peter Sellers as well as by his everyday life, even basing characters on friends and classmates. He said he had always thought about producing the play at Ballard, but wanted to wait until everyone he had worked with while there had moved on.

Earlier this year, Delaney and Kulcsar were discussing the fall play and Delaney said she admitted that she hadn't picked one out yet.

Kulcsar offered "Around the World," but Delaney said she agonized a long time over the decision.

Finally, at 6 p.m. the night before auditions, she called Kulcsar and told him that if they were going to stage his play, he was going to have to direct it. He accepted.

Delaney said she chose the play partly because it went against the grain by having far more female roles than male roles - Ballard High School girls audition in far greater numbers than the boys - but also because Kulcsar has a lot of talent and his script reflected it.

"I go for the really well-written plays because I have to sit through all the rehearsals and all the shows," she said. "Poorly written works get boring after 60 or so times."

Kulcsar, who helped direct "The Crucible" for Ballard last year, said he is happy to be putting in time at his alma mater.

"Just going back and helping out at my high school where it all started for me is in a way giving back to Ballard and training me for where I want to go later on down the road," he said.

Kulcsar said he wants to show the students at Ballard High School what it will be like if they try to go into theater professionally and prepare them for that.

"I'm a nice guy, but not every director will be like that," he said. "I'm trying to show them what it will be like out there."

Apart from working on "Around the World," Kulcsar is a junior and intended drama major at the University of Washington and said he hopes to become a stage actor in Seattle before moving into film and continuing to write.

He said he sees this production of his play as a stepping-stone to his other goals.

"I take it very seriously," he said. "And this, for me, is an opportunity."

Delaney said she continues to be impressed by Kulcsar ever since she cast him as a last-minute replacement in "Fiddler on the Roof" in his sophomore year at Ballard.

"I'm very impressed," she said. "He's grown so much."

"Around the World in 80 Beds" opens tomorrow (Nov. 20) at Ballard High School and runs through Saturday, Nov. 22.

Michael Harthorne may be reached at 783.1244 or michaelh@robinsonnews.com