After a short rehearsal process, members of the theater department will open the this season with a production of Extremities by William Mastrosimone Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bea Wood Studio Theatre.

“When I heard about the show, I was actually really excited,” said theater sophomore Brea Solis.

Drew Davison, a 2017 graduate, will direct this four-person play that features students Brea Solis, Denush Vidanapathirana, Savannah Burks and Jordan Logan.

After a family emergency from Davison caused the rehearsal process to begin late, combined with the show dates being pushed up a week, the actors were given about three weeks to do blocking, learn lines and get all of the technical aspects settled.

“We pretty much lost two weeks and we were all terrified,” said Logan.

The show deals with serious subject matter, including attempted rape and language, which Logan believes is one of the reasons the show is important to see.

Extremities tells the story of a young woman who manages to escape a would-be rapist and decides to take fate into her own hands after trapping him in her home.

Since the show will be performed in the studio theater, all of the action will be up close, and in your face, which Logan believes is a good representation of actual rape because once it happens, it stays with you.

Logan said, “It’s right in your face. You can’t get away from it.”

Solis said,“It’s going to be hard for people to watch this, but sometimes you have to watch it, in order to be informed,” said Solis.

The playwright William Mastrosimone wrote the play in response to a conversation he had with a rape victim named Mary. During his conversation with Mary she told him about her experience and how she had the chance to stop her rapist, but her body froze. Mastrosimone imagined a world where the rapist does get punished, and the victim is able to get the revenge she so badly wants.

Solis said, while their character’s actions might not be the correct response to the situation, the dialogue shows how not everyone reacts the same to such a terrible act, and that there is not one side to every story.

“Drew did a really good job of making it more than just rape. We’ve been able to really justify our character’s choice and why we did the things that we did,” said Logan.

There will be a talk back after every performance of the play, where audience members will have the chance to discuss the play and similar topics with the cast and crew. The show runs Sept. 13 – 16.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the show opened on Sept. 12. It opens Sept. 13 and runs Sept. 13, 14, 15 and 16. The Wichitan apologizes for the error.