When Richmond Community Theatre Director Mark Colbenson was brainstorming plays to schedule for the upcoming year “The Secret Father,” an award-winning play he was a castmember in previously, stuck out in his mind.

He said the play, penned by playwright Robert Houser of Torrance, Calif., is a skillful composition dealing with issues related to identity and familial relationships, while remaining humorous and topical.

“It’s just a delightful story,” Colbenson said. “It’s a serious and romantic love story, but it’s a wonderful story about not just the love between a man and a woman, but we get the wonderful relationships between the mother and the daughter and the father and the daughter when the father is trying to get into the daughter’s life he didn’t know he had originally.”

He said he first met the author while playing the part of Jerry in 1996 at the Rochester (Minnesota) Civic Theater. Houser will attend the Sunday matinee on March 22, followed by a reception in his honor at Arts Richmond. The show opens March 12 and runs through March 28.

The cast and crew of “The Secret Father” appear to agree with Colbenson’s assessment.

“Anyone who comes out to this show will see a variety of emotion,” said Donna Young, who plays the love interest “Katie Bennett.” “Anything from laughter to tears to tough situations that people find themselves in in daily life.”

She said the subject matter is a little unusual for a conservative audience, but the humor and profound nature of the dialogue, along with characters people can easily identify with, make for an enjoyable theatre experience.

Bill Cleveland plays the lead role of Jerry Sanderling.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for a night out with entertainment,” he said. “It’s a dramatic play but with a lot of comedy. It’s a story of alternate family, not your typical love story.”

Cleveland said the dynamics of the relationships between the characters are intriguing.

“I think the writer has some interesting insight, and a lot of times during a dramatic performance, you catch little glimpses of real life, stuff that people deal with, mixed-up relationships and the question of how to deal with this stuff,” he said. “It’s an interesting night out, and I think folks should come because it’s a good play.”

“It’s a fun role to play, and it’s a great show,” Sara Hillert, who is playing “Older Chrissy,” said. “You know, everyone’s done a great job, we’re all kind of like a family here, and the writer’s coming, so we’re all really excited about that..”

Kenzie Ransom is bringing youthful enthusiasm to the role of “Young Chrissy.”

“This one’s different, because there’s more grown-ups,” the 10-year-old veteran of two previous community theater shows said. “But it’s fun because I get to run all over the stage.”

“There are some parts of this play where you really have to wonder if this is really what’s happening,” “David” player Aaron Burgess said. “It’s somewhere between reality and a dream, and it’s really wild how the whole thing turns out. It’s a comedy, and not really suspenseful, but you kind of get that from it.”

Also featured in the play are Wayne Webb in the role of “Dr. Fred,” Jerry Sanderling’s psycho-therapist, and Jimmy Hayden, Christy Ransom and Harvey Auman in the roles of police officers. Merrie Dawkins is the play’s stage manager.

For more information, call 997-3765.