“Wrong Turn at Lungfish,” directed by Marissa Meek, with Ellen Butchart assistant directing, will have a three-week run at Olympic Theatre Art Center’s Gathering Hall, from April 25-May 11.

Friday and Saturday performances will be at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $20 general audience and $15 for students, either at the door or through the website at olympictheatrearts.org/.

The play — written by Gary Marshall and Lowel Ganz, both of whom had long writing careers in Hollywood — has mature themes and language. The title is a reference to Darwin’s theory of evolution.

“’Wrong Turn at Lungfish’ is my favorite kind of script: a funny play about serious things,” Meek said. “And what is more life-and-death serious than life and death?”

The two-act play, divided by intermission, has one set: a hospital room in the 1980s, stocked with an old television and telephone and other realistic time pieces.

“It’s a nice, intimate set,” said Butchart.

The play, she said, is very funny and very poignant — an “interesting balance between farce and tragedy.”

“It’s a dialogue-heavy play,” said Butchart, full of thought-provoking conversation, as each of the distinct characters interact with each other and reveal their vulnerability.

The four-person cast includes Professor Peter Ravenswaal, played by Vince Campbell, who is near the end of his life, blind and ornery, with a full repertoire of literary and philosophical references to fuel his oratory.

Gabrielle Simonson plays Anita Merendino, a young, streetwise woman who visits Ravenswaal to read to him, with Mario Arruda playing her dangerous boyfriend Dominic De Caesar.

Simonson, who has been performing in shows since second grade, recently returned to Sequim and “wanted to jump back into theater.”

“I fell in love with the character of Anita,” she said. “She’s smart but doesn’t know she’s smart.”

Simonson said that the play gives audiences a chance to compare different viewpoints and to question their beliefs.

Marilyn Snook, who plays student nurse Blanche, said she likes performing in a play with “fewer people in it because I think that you get to really work on your character.”

The size of the group, she explained, gave them a chance to get quite comfortable with each other.

Arruda, who has been a repeat performer at OTA since 2017, previously performing in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, said “my character is straight-up not a good guy.”

Dominic, he said, is a kind of villainous character — a role that he is not typically cast in but is enjoying.

Arruda said that the beauty of the show comes from learning about the characters, who all reveal different qualities as the play proceeds, although Dominic does not evolve.

Campbell does an excellent job as the actor always on stage, Arruda said.

“He’s great,” the cast member said. “He has a lot of depth in his acting.”

Arruda said the cast combination provided for a unity and lack of friction that is not always found in a cast, which “makes it really easy to work off and give as much as you can give.”

Meek said she’s “been gifted with an incredible cast and creative crew to bring this story of opposites struggling to find their way at both the beginning and end of life.

“None of these characters are simple people. They all challenge each other as they fight to find their place and their meaning with loads of humor and vulnerability. This made them and the script a treat to work with.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Vince Campbell, Mario Arruda and Gabrielle Simonson rehearse a scene in “Wrong Turn at Lungfish,” running at Olympic Theatre Arts Center April 25-May 11.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Vince Campbell and Marilyn Snook rehearse a scene in “Wrong Turn at Lungfish,” running at Olympic Theatre Arts Center April 25-May 11.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Vince Campbell, stars as impatient patient Professor Peter Ravenswaal in Olympic Theatre Arts Center’s “Wrong Turn at Lungfish,” running April 25-May 11. Behind him, Mario Arruda plays the violent Dominic De Caesar.