Mary Hanks isn't afraid to admit it.

She really likes hillbillies.

Or writing about them, anyway.

"I think it's maybe my age, but I grew up with Don Knotts and Andy Griffith and I still enjoy watching those sort of things," said the playwright and drama coach for Christian Center School in Hayden. "The Beverly Hillbillies were a kick to me, and every play I write has an old man or old woman who is just a fun, lively character."

So when Hanks was asked to write the play for the school's 11th theater production, she didn't have to strain herself thinking up ideas.

Hillbillies are sprinkled throughout the spring farce, "What About Them Neighbors?" Set just after World War II, the story centers around a family of city slickers vacationing in a cabin in the woods.

"Of course there's got to be hillbillies in the woods," Hanks said.

Of course.

The family has a slew of strange encounters with the friendly bumpkins, Hanks said, most incidents prompted by a mysterious experiment being conducted by the scientifically-inclined son. His work has the backwoods neighbors baffled, Hanks said, sparking some inevitably zany antics.

"I can't tell you what he's working on, because that would give it away," she said.

Keeping the production adequately quirky is a hillbilly matriarch, Hanks added, based off the grandmother from "The Beverly Hillbillies."

Hanks, also directing the play, lauded the performances of the high school performers. The stars include junior Austin Petellin, playing the nerdy teenager, senior Dennis Chekota as the father with a rigid military background, junior Lindsey Howard as the sassy grandmother and senior Bethany Harryman playing the love interest.

Howard has acted in all 11 of the school's productions, Hanks said. Petellin has performed in 12 of Hanks' plays.

"The light of this show is really Austin and Lindsey. Their talents have just grown," Hanks said. "It's just a great group of kids, and it's a fun thing for a small school to put on a big production."

"What About Them Neighbors?" runs from tonight through Friday. The play is scheduled at 7 each night at CCS, at 3639 West Prairie Ave. Tickets at the door cost $5 for adults and $3 for students and children.

Hanks promised a performance that will leave audiences smiling.

"If I have fun writing it, and I did, and if the kids are having a fun time practicing and performing it, I believe the audience is going to have a really fun time seeing this all come together," she said.