It’s so Vashon. Haven’t we all heard or said that phrase when confronted with the creative or generous quirks of character and activity by our fellow islanders? Often it’s accompanied with a swelling pride or smiling shake of the head — much like that given to a beloved family dog chasing its tail. With Vashon’s eccentricities and man’s best friend in mind, island author Jean Davies Okimoto wrote “The Reinvention of Albert Paugh,” which will open as a new play produced by Drama Dock on Thursday, Feb. 2, and run through the weekend at the Katherine L White Hall.

Albert Paugh, pronounced like paw, recently sold his successful veterinary practice located in the heart of Vashon. But unlike his flourishing career as a vet, he’s flunking retirement. At a loss of what to do, he soon learns of his wife’s sudden departure for another woman. All that remains of Paugh’s former life is his reliable chocolate lab Bert and a pile of regrets. Yet as the story unfolds, Paugh bumbles his way into reinventing his life, filling it with purpose through the help of old friends who become his chosen family, an unexpected new partner and the unconditional love of his canine pals.

Like movies, when novels are adapted to plays, scenes necessarily condense or disappear. Visual and theatrical elements rise to the top and while respecting the narrative arc, the tale often shifts focus. The reincarnation of Albert Paugh as a play morphed from a thoughtful book into a more light-hearted theatrical piece. Case in point: Antics arise when romantic interests turn sour because Paugh fails to choose a particular darling dog for his canine calendar fundraiser.

“Even though the book had parts that were funny, it was not a comic novel,” Okimoto said. “There are serious themes of aging, loss, identifying as an older person and second chances. The play has a heightened sense of comedy, so it became a romantic comedy unlike the book.”

Okimoto and the show’s director, Chaim Rosemarin, collaborated on tightening the script. The author credits Rosemarin’s “keen sense of comedy” for some of the changes, adding that it’s “been wonderful to see how the play has developed.”

Perhaps the greatest stumbling block to the adaptation came from the multiple scene changes in the episodic narrative and how to work with the two four-legged stars. Islander and dog-trainer Kathy Farner found two therapy dogs, Jinna Risdal’s Rain and Rousseau, who apparently take directions like seasoned pros.

As for the frequent indoor and outdoor sets, a friend suggested projecting images of Vashon on the screen behind the actors and contacting island photographer Ray Pfortner for recommendations of additional photographers. Committed to helping youth, Okimoto hired two of Pfortner’s students, Julian White-Davis and Lhamu Konrad, who took all the photos. Her granddaughter, Sarah Klein, designed the slide show.

“This is my 22nd book and fourth play,” Okimoto said, “and I’m having the most fun ever. The (students) and I drive around taking pictures of Island Center Forest, the interiors of people’s homes and my friends’ dogs.”

Other Vashon-centric references involve a cameo appearance by the Vashon Ukulele Society and the all-island cast. The actors include seven women — Lisa Breen, Sue DeNies, Gaye Detzer, Patricia Kelly, Marjon McDermott, Bonnie Moss and Gretchen Neffenger; seven men — Peter Kreitner, Harris Levinson, Gordon Millar, Toby Nichols, Eric Perlman, Perry Jones and Rick Skillman; one boy — Orion Moss; and Risdal’s two dogs — Rain and Rousseau. Behind the scenes are Trudy Rosemarin, producer; Elise Morrill, stage manager; Julie Burman, props mistress; Dan Cummings, lighting design; Robert Piston, lighting assistant; Jesse Bell, projectionist/sound; and Julian White-Davis, sound.

Despite the island images and references, Okimoto said the play is not based on real events or real characters. As both a published author and therapist for 35 years, Okimoto is clear about confidentiality.

“I was religious about not writing a character that resembled one of my clients. The characters are people I invent,” she said. “If they ring true, it may be from things I’ve observed.”

That said, two derivatives sparked key ideas in the book, now play: one from a friend and physician at Group Health Cooperative, Hugh Straley, who said he was flunking retirement; the other from Linda Milovsoroff, former director of the VCC Foundation, who recalled a time when a resident with memory problems saw a dog a staff member had brought to work. He thought it was his, and that dispelled his dark mood. Okimoto said it had to go in the book.

Distilling what makes something “so Vashon,” Okimoto cited the culture of openness, that almost anything goes. She believes it breeds creativity. She also recognizes that “there are many Vashons” due to the many experiences and pursuits one can have living here.

“This is a place of such wonderful contradictions in some ways,” she said. “We have serious moral people taking their role as citizens of the community and the wide world with care. On the other hand, you have eccentrics, and I am one, who don’t worry about what others think, and that is also of great value. (The play’s) look at Vashon is the way I experience it; it’s not a definitive comment, but knowing Vashon, I think all of it could have happened here.”