“Today” and “tonight” represent Friday, Aug. 9; Saturday and Sunday are Aug. 10 and 11.
SEQUIM — Nellie doesn’t like camping so much. But his friends Oby and Darin are fairly insistent on this annual backpacking trip, so off he goes with them, up to the mountains for a test.
It’s a test of friendship in “In the Sawtooths,” the drama opening tonight for a two-weekend run at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave. And as often happens in these parts, the actors are friends in real life, too: Jeremiah Paulsen, Sean Peck-Collier and Zachery Moorman were all inspired by this story.
Moorman and Peck-Collier also starred in “Becket” at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse for the past two weeks.
“They’re insane,” Paulsen joked about his fellow performers.
But just as Paulsen wanted the “black sheep” role of Nellie, the others were determined to bring Darin and Oby to life. The three make up the entire cast of “In the Sawtooths,” which in 2007 won the Kennedy Center’s National Student Playwriting Award.
Director Colby Thomas saw the Dano Madden play at Central Washington University about five years back, and thought: “I have to put this on.” It’s a tale Northwesterners can identify with, Thomas believes — more than all those plays set in the South or in New York City.
“A lot of shows are about women bonding, or about men and women falling in love,” added Thomas. And though he’s not wild about the word, “Sawtooths” is a bromance.
These are men torn between settling down and staying footloose; they have demons to confront.
Then, all of a sudden, a tragedy shatters the life of one of the men. They question whether they should go on their annual trip.
The characters are “trying to figure out friendship,” Moorman added. Darin and Oby are outdoorsmen — “the go-to, know-how guys” when it comes to camping, Paulsen said.
His character Nellie — possibly short for Cornelius — is a musician, a guitarist and bongo-drummer. Through his two friends, he learns that he does enjoy backpacking after all.
“Sawtooths” has plenty of laughter, such as when the men give a talk on camping to a Girl Scout troop.
“But at times,” Thomas said, the comedy is “a little bittersweet.”
Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, tonight through Aug. 18. Admission is by donation at the door; no advance reservations are needed.
For more information about this and other Olympic Theatre Arts presentations, phone the box office at 360-683-7326 or visit www.OlympicTheatreArts.org.
