Joshua Morgan has taken on a challenge. He's directing No Rules Theatre Company's production of "The Last Five Years," Jason Robert Brown's musical about a writer's failed marriage to an actress.
"We know the end of the story at the very top of the show," Morgan said. "What's the point? If we know the ending at the beginning, why do we stick around for 120 minutes and watch the relationship unfold?"
Morgan and the two cast members — Joshua Gray (writer Jamie Wellerstein) and Dorea Schmidt (actress Cathy Hiatt) — seem to have developed a sound strategy for keeping the audience engaged.
They talked about it before a recent rehearsal of the play, which will begin a run in Hanesbrands Theatre on Wednesday.
"The Last Five Years" debuted in 2001 in Chicago, then ran Off-Broadway the following year. Brown is reported to be working on bringing the show to Broadway and creating a version for film.
"Five Years" features virtually no spoken lines. Jamie and Cathy each take turns telling the story of their marriage by singing solo numbers. Jamie's part of the story is told from beginning to end; Cathy's is told from end to beginning.
When the show works, "the audience goes on this journey of rooting for both sides and looking for people, so to speak, and seeing what could have been," said Morgan, an alumnus of UNC School of the Arts.
The key to making that happen is singing the show's difficult music well, but not at the expense of obscuring the story that the songs are telling.
Rehearsals started weeks ago in Washington, one of No Rules' homes. The other home is Winston-Salem. During some practice sessions, Gray and Schmidt didn't sing; instead, they spoke the lyrics. That way, there would be less chance of hiding behind the music.
"We're really concerned about telling the story, as opposed to just singing a song," Gray said.
Schmidt said that her character and Gray's strive "to keep fighting as characters."
She said that one of her principal jobs is figuring out what her character wants and going after it instead of thinking about entertaining the audience.
"People can get carried away with the music of it," she said. "It's about their relationship; it's not about the music."
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If you go
What: The No Rules Theatre Company presents "The Last Five Years."
When: Wednesday through Dec. 4
Preview performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Opening night is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 25-26 and Dec. 1-3. Matinees are at 2 p.m. Nov. 20, Nov. 25-27 and Dec. 4. There's a noon show Dec. 1.
Where: Hanesbrands Theatre, 209 N. Spruce St.
Cost: Preview tickets are $13. Opening-night tickets are $40, which includes a reception. Tickets to other shows are $28.50 for adults and $18.50 for ages 12 and younger.
Information: See www.hanesbrandstheatre.org or call (336) 747-1414 noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Note: Parents attending "The Last Five Years" Nov. 18 and Dec. 2 can drop children 6 to 14 at the Sawtooth School for the Visual Arts, where they will be led through a hands-on art experience with an instructor. The drop-off time will be 7:15 p.m.; pickup is 9:15 p.m. in the lobby of the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts. Hanesbrands is next door to Sawtooth, a part of the center. The cost is $33.50 per child. See www.hanesbrandstheatre.org.
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