When the Department of Theater Arts stages a play, it’s often a work written by dramatic titans like Aristophanes, William Shakespeare, and Tennessee Williams, giving student actors a chance to perform great theater from the Western canon.

But next month, Furman’s theater majors will have a unique opportunity to perform a play that stands out not because it’s a timeless classic but because it’s brand new.

On Nov. 13, the Department of Theater Arts will stage the world premier of “Pomp and Circumstance,” a comedy about a group of college seniors preparing to graduate written by Furman alumnus Randall David Cook.

Cook, a class of ‘91 graduate, is an award-winning playwright who has had his plays premiere Off Broadway and has seen his work produced across the country and even outside the United States. This semester, he’s the Duke Endowment Artist-in-Residence at Furman.

Theater professor Jay Oney, himself a Furman graduate, is directing the new play. Cook said he first met Oney in 2005 and knew at once that he wanted to work with him, viewing the relationship between the playwright and director as “the most important collaboration of a play.”

Cook spent several years crafting ideas for his play. His initial vision was to make it about students participating in a foreign study program visiting London, Paris, and Ireland. He even visited these countries to get a first-hand sense for cultural differences.

Shortly after, he scrapped the idea and began writing a comedy about interns in New York City only to later dismiss that idea too after he had a dream that gave him the premise for “Pomp and Circumstance.” Cook said he woke up at 4 a.m. and, unable to get rid of the powerful and striking images in his head, began to write down his thoughts.

“I could really see it on the stage,” he said, describing his motivations for writing the play.

Normally, Cook said, he constructs his plays around two to three main characters, the norm for an Off Broadway playwright. But when he wrote “Pomp and Circumstance” earlier this year, he included a large cast that gives students the opportunity to play many different parts.

Furman’s production marks the first time that Cook has worked with student actors. After the auditions, Cook said he was so impressed with Furman students that he added six additional parts to the production.

“Pomp and Circumstance” is a new experience for the student actors and the director as well, who don’t typically perform brand new productions and work so closely with the playwright.

Because of Cook’s access to the production process, he has been able to rework some of his characters to match the talents of the student actors.

The characters in the play include riffs on stereotypes like the star athlete, pre-law student, as well as a group of cheerleaders. “Pomp and Circumstance” is largely comic in tone, but it does address more serious subject matter like coming of age, preparing for the “real world,” and the overall experience of one’s last semester in college.

“I am so excited to give Furman University the opportunity to have the world premiere of my play ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’” Cook said. “This is something a small liberal arts school does not get. It just doesn’t happen.”

“Pomp and Circumstance” will run in the Furman Playhouse Nov. 13-16 and 21-23 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. There will also be a reading of Cook’s play “In a Town Near Face,” which is based loosely on a story about his great grandmother, during homecoming weekend.