"Gruesome Playground Injuries" by Rajiv Joseph will be presented at the Basil Burwell Community Theater, 17 Court Street in Belfast, for five performances, January 15-18. This two-person play follows Kayleen and Doug across 30 years of shared history, including chronic injuries, bad decisions, and missed connections. The story unfolds out of order, jumping between childhood scrapes, teenage disasters, and adult wounds that don’t heal as easily, according to director Erik Perkins, in a news release.

"Joseph’s writing is darkly funny, finding laughter in both pain and intimacy over those years," said Perkins. "It's a mystery in many ways. The scenes are like scars, some fresh and some forgotten through the years. The story is constructed so sometimes you see the effect of a wound before you see the cause of it."

"And with just two actors onstage and no ensemble to hide behind, every moment lands squarely on the performers, who carry the audience through the years of emotional and physical wreckage," he continued.

That pair are played by Mark Durbin and Katie Glessner, fixtures in Midcoast theater productions, according to Perkins. Glessner shared production duties with Perkins, as the two formulated plans for a theatrical collaboration before picking the play, which was chosen by a ranked-choice vote of the three.

"I’m drawn to plays that leave a lot of room to explore relationships, and this one does that in a very nontraditional way," she said. "It felt like a new kind of challenge for me as an actor and a meaningful choice for a self-produced project. We were excited by the chance to present something audiences might not typically see in a small community theatre setting."

"Katie and I have worked together several times onstage, often playing opposite each other," said Durbin. "This show has allowed us to explore that interpersonal sphere more so than any other. We get to delve into the peaks and valleys and the idiosyncrasies of two people who come and go in each other’s lives, and this has provided us with endless fodder for exploratory discussions, especially as it relates to different ages in the characters’ lives. At the same time, this has proven to be one of the biggest challenges, for me, anyhow: who am I at this age when this happens? How do friendship bonds persist in absence? What do two lives look like as they converge and diverge?"

"This play is hard," said Glessner, "but in the best possible way. You have to be very clear about what has just happened in their relationship before you walk onstage, even if that moment exists years earlier or later in the story. Working with Mark as a scene partner, who I trust completely, makes it possible to take real risks. Having the three of us together on this project has made the process especially rewarding and special."

"Gruesome Playground Injuries" contains adult themes and language and is recommended for mature audiences. While it is not a Belfast Maskers production, and they are not responsible for its content, a portion of the proceeds will go to support Maskers' 2026 programming.

Tickets and additional information are available at http://belfastmaskers.com/gruesome.