Open Theatre Project is debuting a new production called “Weighting the Wait,” created by Dev Luthra in collaboration with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. Part theater performance, part interactive experience, the piece tells the stories of local community members impacted by gun violence.

Luthra calls the performance a “choreopoem.”

“It’s text and movement and it’s presented in a sort of ritualized manner,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of poetry in it, movement. We are performing it in the sanctuary of a church where the theater company is based. So, we’re using that environment to inform the ritualized aspect of the performance.”

The process of putting the show together began with a series of writing workshops with members of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, an organization that provides support to community members impacted by the trauma and grief of gun violence.

During the workshops the participants explored what it means to carry grief, to process trauma and to search for justice that may never come. They considered how one horrible moment can cause a ripple effect through an entire community. The stories those members wrote became the core narrative of this performance.

These stories are told by actors Dionne Latrice, Cherease Lamm, Chris Everett, Zahra A. Belyea and Tammy Brown, with movement coordination by Audrey Johnson. The set includes visual artworks by local artist and writer Rosalyn Elder.

This collaborative creative process has been cathartic and healing for all involved and Luthra hopes that feeling will extend to the audience.

“This piece is about pretty horrific events, but it also includes the power and resiliency of the people who are going through it,” said Luthra. “Making the art is an opportunity for that depth to be articulated and to assert itself in the world.”

“Weighting the Wait” runs at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain May 22-30. General admission is $25 per ticket but pay-what-you-can tickets are available.

There is an optional audience participation component to the performance, the details of which Luthra wants to keep under wraps, but he hopes it will inspire attendees to consider how violence in our communities impacts us all.

“The stories that were the writers’ stories are now the actors’ stories, too, and then the actors in performance will be using this ritual to invite the audience to take on those stories themselves,” he said. “It’s this chain of connection.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more at theopentheatre.com/weighting-the-wait-play