The relationship between Suzanne Maris and Ken Grigsby is one of trust and mutual admiration.

When Maris directs plays at the Whidbey Playhouse, she feels comfort in having Grigsby as producer, knowing he has a long track record of getting things accomplished while still wearing a friendly smile.

She’s seen that combination in action under very different circumstances when she was a student in Grigsby’s Pacific Northwest history class at what was then Oak Harbor Junior High School.

“He’s the only teacher who ever gave me detention,” Maris said, recalling a time when she arrived late to class.

More than three decades later, Grigsby still gently nudges Maris when the situation arises.

They’ve been working together on their latest production, “I Hate Hamlet” for the past 12 weeks. The comedy, written by Paul Rudnick,  starts Friday, April 3, with the first of 11 performances.

“He’s just a really nice, jovial guy,” Maris said of Grigsby. “He gets stuff done. Everybody likes him so it’s great.

“With a producer, you want to have a guy who you know is going to get everything done and pokes you with a stick to make sure you’re getting stuff done.”

“I Hate Hamlet” has turned into somewhat of a reunion between a retired teacher and former Oak Harbor school mates.

Two cast members, the director and assistant director all attended Oak Harbor schools and are long familiar with Grigsby.

“This has probably been the most fun cast to work with because it’s a small cast,” said Troy Haugen, a longtime playhouse performer who plays the role of John Barrymore. “So, you get kind of personal. You learn things you can’t really learn with big casts. You wind up blending and meshing faster than most.”

The cast is made up of only six actors. The plot revolves around one central character, Andrew Rally, played by playhouse newcomer Chris Barrett.

Rally is a budding Hollywood television star who accepts the role of Hamlet in a theater production then tries to wiggle his way out of it with the urging of his slick, fast-talking agent, played by George Washington Orange III.

Rally’s attempts to get out of the role are made difficult by the haunting presence of Barrymore, a former stage actor considered the greatest Hamlet of his time. Barrymore tries to convince Rally that the honor and prestige of playing such a role on stage is an art form worth more than Hollywood fame and fortune.

In town less than a week, Barrett showed up for auditions in early January and landed the leading role.

After graduating from UC Davis, where he was part of a student-run theater group, he moved to Oak Harbor to live with his brother, who’s in the Navy.

“I had been in California my whole life,” said Barrett, who’s from Redding. “I just wanted to try something new.”

Rounding out the cast are Sheila Terry, who’s performed in other shows in recent years, and Emily Boyle and Orange, two active-duty sailors acting in their second performances at the Oak Harbor playhouse.

For Boyle, a sonar technician, it will be her last local appearance onstage. She is being transferred in May after two years on Whidbey and is headed to Washington, D.C.

“This is a great family being away from your own,” she said of the playhouse.

Tara Hizon, Oak Harbor city councilwoman, is the play’s assistant director and was another familiar face in the hallways to Grigsby during his teaching tenure that covered 34 years.

He’s been working on shows at the playhouse for 25 years, helping creating an atmosphere that has tended to bring together old friends and welcome new ones.

“I don’t know anyone here,” Orange said. “My co-stars have put me into their welcoming arms and embraced me and welcomed my input, ideas and suggestions. They embrace those ideas and the person that I am.”