Richland Center High School’s drama department is known for providing quality entertainment  –  from musicals like 2014’s “Oklahoma!” to plays like 2015’s “Hillbilly Reunion”  –  to audiences of all kinds.

Students return to the stage this winter to enact yet another hysterical and memorable production. On February 19 and 20, RCHS will be performing the obscure comedy “Sunny-Side Up,” which combines elements of hilarity with subtle mysterious undertones.

Sammy Sunnyside, world-renowned comedian, wants to retire and give his famous joke chest to the most deserving of his relatives. The chest is almost priceless since it contains all of Sammy’s comic material since his career began. Sammy and his shy but trusted attorney, Dagwood, dress themselves as kindly old ladies and show up at Sammy’s birthday party attended by lots of other relatives and uninvited guests. In disguise they hope to find out who really wants to carry on Sammy’s comical tradition or who just wants his gold mine to sell off.

But everything gets scrambled when a washed-up comedy team hired by the conniving cousins accidentally kidnaps Sammy instead of his sweet niece Rebecca, the most likely heir. In a hilarious series of setbacks and misadventures they continue to kidnap people in hopes of getting it right while the usually awkward Dagwood (still in a dress!) starts courting Rebecca. A host of other zany characters such as the quintessential detective and his assistant, the joke-writing Tweady brothers, the singing Sylvester sisters, the down-home housekeeper, the sexy starlet and the shady boyfriend, make this play a riot. In the end the scoundrels are finally brought to justice, marriage plans are made, wills are set right, and jokes are the special of the day!

Will the mystery be solved?

Find out on February 19 and 20 at RCHS. The show begins at 7:30 p.m., with tickets sold at the door.