Ready to relive those awkward teenage years contemplating God, identity, acceptance and intimacy? This week through to December 3rd the Cappuccino Musical Theatre presents bare, a musical drama that takes us back to Catholic grade school, at the Victor Mitchell Theatre in the Pumphouse Theatres.

bare features a nearly dialogue-less script. The plot is primarily sung by a 15-person cast backed by a nine-man ten-piece band to a catchy live score.

"This script and our cast have really been a blessing to work with; the cast have devoted themselves to their roles like no other cast I've ever worked with," says stage director Jamie Eastgaard-Ross. "I've never found myself drawn to a script the way I have with this one, and there's not a day goes by that one of us doesn't say ‘that was me in high school’, or ‘I knew that kid when I was growing up’."

Ross started out as a stage performer in community theatres in Scotland but has spent the last five years directing in Calgary, initially with the Scorpio Theatre Society and Front Row Centre. This is his directorial debut with the Cappuccino theatre group.

Though the bare cast is predominantly composed of actors over the age of 18 Ross says the show’s incredibly realistic lyrics and dialogue provide appropriate motivations for the players – regardless of their age.

"We were lucky to have a very wide range of incredibly talented actors to choose from," he says. "Being gay, I do tend to find myself identifying most with one of the two gay lead characters, but I see parts of myself in most of the others too, and every single person I speak to identifies with one of the characters in the show."

Rehearsals began at the end of August with the first six weeks devoted entirely to nailing the tight harmonies bare’s musical numbers require.

"There's some very intricate music in this show, and the cast and our musical director (Danielle Wahl) have put a lot of hard work in to making sure we do justice to it," Ross says.

The following six weeks were given to developing the characters created in the story from which the script is based.

"It would have been very easy in a show like this to stick purely with what Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo put down on paper, and still come out with an amazing show, but everyone has put a lot of thought into creating their own back stories for their characters, and what that brings to the roles takes the story to a whole other level," Ross explains.  "Every single one of them can tell you what their character does in the gaps between their scenes; how they would react to any given situation; what's going on in their minds while the story is unfolding around them."

"We even have two cast members in supporting roles who play a couple on stage, and if I didn't know better, I'd think they were dating in real life!"

Despite having a full list of potential works from which to choose, upon reading the bare script Ross says selecting this show to perform with Cappuccino was one of the easiest decisions he’s ever had to make.

"As we discussed it, it became clear to all of us that this was this show we had to do," he says. "It was a show that needed to be seen by as many people as possible, and as soon as possible, and we wanted to be the ones to tell this story."

While Ross stuck to the original script, some adjustments to stage direction were implemented to complement the performance space and to enhance the emotional effect created by certain scenes.

"We have one scene in particular where one of the lead characters, Peter, tries to come out to his mother, Claire, over the phone," Ross describes. "The conversation doesn't go exactly as he'd hoped, and the next scene is from his mother's perspective giving the audience an insight to her side of the conversation. It's one of the scenes that I'm proudest of in the show, and one that we made one of the biggest changes to."

Though the script offered no reaction from Peter, Ross implemented such without use of dialogue or lyrics, giving opportunity for the audience to view how Claire’s reaction affected him.

"I think it's become true of the show as a whole – that whilst the music, lyrics, and dialogue are a beautiful story in their own right, what I'm proudest of is the little touches that the cast and I have brought out through staging; the small things that go on in the background while our main focus is drawn elsewhere," he says. "It's those details that have helped to create such real characters and real moments."

Ross says the biggest challenge in producing the show was the flow it requires. bare's writers specifically request no blackouts for set changes; pauses for audience applause are also frowned upon.

"With that in mind, we sat down early on to construct a very versatile set and blocking for the show that would maintain that flow, and I think it's something that we've managed to achieve, and we let the audience know musically very early on that we're keeping going with them or without them!" Ross says.

"Without giving away too much, the further into the story we get, the faster the world starts to unravel around these kids, and I think the constant flow we've created helps draw the audience into that downwards spiral that the characters find themselves in."

Tickets for bare can be purchased through the Pumphouse box office by calling (403)263-0079 or visiting www.pumphousetheatres.ca. General admission is set at $25 per ticket or $20 for students and seniors.

"I'm very proud of the way that the production leaves you with a message, and confronts some major issues, but without being preachy, or insistent on itself," Ross says. "It's more of an invitation to begin your own open dialogue on the issues it presents; a tale that, whilst filled with modern themes, will always be timeless, and will always be with each and every one of us."