CHAMBERSBURG – Chambersburg Community Theatre is kicking off its 70th season this weekend with “Fun Home,” a Tony Award-winning musical that explores self-discovery, family and coming of age. 

Friday’s opening night performance will be followed by a Post Show Kickback event where viewers can discuss the show’s themes and production elements of the show with cast and crew. The kickback event will be livestreamed on CCT’s Facebook page. 

“Fun Home” is a musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.” Rather than being a direct adaptation to the stage, the show zooms out a bit to depict Bechdel’s process of creating the graphic novel that serves as the source material for the show.

In addition to “Fun Home,” Bechdel is known for her follow-up graphic novel “Are You My Mother?” and her long-running comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For.” She is also the originator of the Bechdel test, which draws attention to the representation – or lack thereof – of women in fiction.

AimeeBeth Davis, the show’s director and the president of CCT’s board of directors, discussed some of the emotional and technical challenges with presenting the recursive, non-linear literary work as a live theater event.

“It’s not the graphic novel brought to life,” she says. “It’s [Bechdel] reliving her memories.”

Davis continues: “The show is about an artist who is working through grief and her childhood and coming to terms with the fact that she and her father are probably more similar than they thought.”

To depict the different phases of Bechdel’s life, the part of Alison is played by three different actors. Adult Alison (Amoretta Shultz) explores her childhood, especially her complicated relationship with her father, by rewatching the experiences of Small Alison (Brenna Hollingsworth) and Medium Alison (Jocelyn Merriman). 

The Wood Center doesn’t have a traditional stage, which puts the actors in the center of the room with the audience on three sides (the fourth wall is reserved for the pit orchestra). The smaller performance space limits audience size and helps to create a more intimate, exposed environment as the poignant moments of Bechdel’s life play out before them.

“[Attendees] really should feel like they’re a fly on the wall,” said Davis of the content which includes sensitive topics like Bechdel discovering her sexuality, her fraught relationship with her gay father, and broader issues relating to family, memory, truth, lies and suicide. “Less an audience and more like you’re peeking in on someone’s diary.”

Davis added that the show starts off a bit lighter as Bechdel (the character) is still struggling to cope with what the story will be about, and there’s a point in the show where the tone switches “and it does get pretty heavy.”

“Yes, we’re playing pretend right now and we’re acting, but this is something that someone actually lived through.”

The tonal palette of the show is supported by the pit orchestra, which is conducted by Mat Levine, who is also the managing director for CCT.

“We’re less of an accompaniment and more of a character,” said Levine of the pit orchestra, which includes a woodwind player (clarinet, bass clarinet and tenor sax), a string player (violin and viola), a cellist, an electric bass player, a pianist, a percussionist and Levine himself on guitar for two songs. 

“There’s a lot of underscoring. It feels more like a movie at times in that way. There are hardly any breaks from the music so even when there are just lines being delivered, it’s often over top of chords.”

He added: “It’s a little biting at times. There’s some interesting use of dissonance in this show to make points and to use foreshadowing a lot. And then there’s a Jackson 5 rip-off. So it depends on the number.”

Davis has taken measures to protect the mental health of the cast including encouraging them to let the production team know if they experience any struggles or distress as a result of the rehearsal process because “[Bechdel] touches on so many things that are just heartbreaking” and “this is a heavy, heavy show and hits on some sad stuff.”

At the same time she often reminded the cast that the people they are portraying are real people.

“Yes, we’re playing pretend right now and we’re acting,” she said, “but this is something that someone actually lived through.”

One of the reasons that “Fun Home” was selected by CCT is that Bechdel’s work hits close to home – both emotionally and geographically – for people in Chambersburg because the events took place in a rural town near State College.

“There’s a lot of heavy-hitting moments, but there are also some really great moments,” she said. “There’s happy touching moments and sad touching moments, and there’s everything in between.”

Where: The Capitol Theatre’s Wood Center (159 S. Main St.)

When: Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 15 at 2 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased here.

[Main image caption: Amoretta Shultz portrays Alison Bechdel in a rehearsal for Chambersburg Community Theatre’s production of “Fun Home.” Photo provided by Chambersburg Community Theatre.]