Love, trauma and relationships at play in Drama Dock show

Drama Dock will launch its 49th season with Rajiv Joseph’s “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” playing February 21–23 at Open Space for Arts & Community.

The play tells the story of the decades-long friendship between Doug and Kayleen, first meeting at 8 years old in the nurse’s office at St. Margaret Mary’s school, and concluding when the pair are 38.

In the play, the action leaps back and forth in time, when different circumstances bring these two characters back into each other’s lives, revealing how pain and coping mechanisms manifest in each character’s life — with Doug seeking out reckless and physically dangerous behavior, while Kayleen’s wounds are rooted in validation and self-harm.

By the play’s end, both characters arrive at a profound understanding of love, friendship, and the role pain plays in shaping a person’s identity and purpose in life.

“Gruesome Playground Injuries” premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas in 2009.

The Houston Chronicle hailed the script as “[revealing] an original voice with a knack for blending quirky humor and unexpected poignancy” — adding that “with its unaffected humor and deep sympathy, ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ exerts a peculiar power to involve us in Doug and Kayleen’s troubled lives.”

The play continued on to New York in 2011, produced by Second Stage Theater. The Seattle theater company, Azeotrope, produced the local premiere in 2013 — a production that Seattle Gay Scene praised by saying “Every aspect of this production is just exceptional.”

Drama Dock’s production is directed by Samantha Sherman (director of last season’s “The Hatmaker’s Wife”) and will feature performances by local actors Kenny Alton, as Doug, and Tessa Wood, as Kayleen.

For both actors, the play is a tight fit for the work that they do in their professional lives.

Wood, who plays Kayleen, works in public defense, specifically in involuntary treatment cases.

In an interview, she recounted how this work brings her into contact with “people in deep distress, navigating systems that don’t always meet them with understanding.”

The play resonates with Wood, she said, “because it speaks to suffering—both self-inflicted and circumstantial — and the struggle between wanting to help someone and not always knowing how. Watching Doug and Kayleen move through their lives feels like watching that same push and pull — the attempt to reach each other, to fix what might not be fixable, and to live with the wounds that time doesn’t erase.”

Alton, who works as a counselor with Vashon Youth & Family Services, and also with Journeymen as a camp organizer and a mentor to boys in schools, brings lessons learned from these experiences to his role in the play as Doug.

“After reading ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries,’ I was drawn to how relevant it is to what’s happening in our culture today,” said Alton. “There are so many issues that are present in our culture today that the play hits upon: unhealthy coping methods, dissociation, addiction, loneliness, and — most importantly — the difficulty we have with making connections.”

Director Samantha Sherman expressed gratitude for the depth of feeling and experience Wood and Alton have brought to their roles.

“Kenny and Tessa each have a deep well of emotional intelligence and, because of the work they do professionally, it’s apparent how fiercely they care about Doug and Kayleen and how they honor the truth of these characters,” she said.

Other key members of the play’s company include stage managers Mark Seely and Gaye Detzer, and production designers Patti Curtis Hair (scenic, properties, and makeup design), Vanessa Gannon (costume design), and Robin Nettles (lighting design).

The production will play for four performances; Friday, February 21 through Sunday, February 23, and is recommended for age 13 and older.

An optional talk-back with the cast and members of the production team will follow each performance.

All performances will take place at Open Space for Arts & Community, located at 18870 103rd Avenue SW.

Tickets are $35 for general admission and $30 for seniors, with discounts available by purchasing in advance. $10 student and Public Access tickets are made possible with support from 4Culture. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit dramadock.org.