The Tufts University student drama organizations Pen, Paint, and Pretzels (3Ps) and Torn Ticket II are teaming up to present two Orientation Shows at the Balch Arena Theatre.

The 3Ps will present “Speech and Debate,” by Stephen Karam and directed by Moira Loh, at 7 p.m. on Sunday, September 2, and at 4 p.m. on Monday, September 3.

Torn Ticket II will present “Ghost Quartet,”  by Dave Malloy and directed by Amanda Rose, at 9 p.m. on Sunday, September 2, and at 2 p.m. on Monday, September 3.

In “Speech and Debate,” when the Republican mayor of Salem, Oregon, is caught in a sex scandal involving underage boys and the internet, a local high school student sits up and takes notice. Intelligent and aggressive Solomon, a nerdy, single-minded teen with ambitions of journalism, wants to investigate homophobic closeted men in positions of power in the state capitol… whether or not they are actually politicians. Howie, a gay high school senior who has transferred from Portland, is disgusted by the comparatively Puritan culture of Salem, in which he can’t get a Gay-Straight Alliance sponsored at school… but he can get picked up by a teacher in a chat room. And dramatic, determined Diwata, a frumpy young diva with adult burdens and a grudge against the Drama teacher who refuses to cast her, is the nervous witness to an illicit student/teacher encounter. When the three students realize that they each have a piece of the same scandalous puzzle, purposes are double and triple crossed, conversations explode, secrets are bartered, and ultimately, and in spite of themselves, an alliance is formed.

“Ghost Quartet,” music directed by Adam Lipson and Mary Reynolds, is a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey. A camera breaks and four friends drink in an interwoven tale spanning seven centuries, with a murderous sister, a treehouse astronomer, a bear, a subway, and the ghost of Thelonious Monk.

Founded in 1910, 3Ps is the oldest student organization on the Tufts campus. Each Semester, 3Ps stages one major production and up to two workshop productions. In addition, 3Ps serves as the umbrella organization for many other student performing arts groups. Torn Ticket II is Tufts’ only student-run musical theatre organization.

Admission is free to all performances.