The cast of Butler Little Theatre's “Other Desert Cities” are, from left, Terri Schultz, Tom Smithyman, Laura Crago, Sam Thinnes and Alison Carey. Submitted Photo

The small cast of “Other Desert Cities” portrays a family reconnecting after years of being apart, and the five actors in Butler Little Theatre’s production of the show came to be a little family of their own after months of rehearsals.

“Other Desert Cities” will run April 26 through May 4 and features five main cast members; Terri Schultz, Tom Smithyman, Laura Crago, Sam Thinnes and Alison Carey.

Katie Moore, the show’s director, said the story in the play leans into dramatic territory with a few moments of levity, but acts to make the audience look a little deeper into family dynamics.

“It's got some funny moments in it, but overall it is a drama,” Moore said. “We've had a lot of fun in rehearsals; it's like a real family getting along.”

In the show, Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs after a six-year absence to celebrate Christmas with her parents, brother and aunt. She announces she’s about to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal, tragic event in the family’s history — a wound they don’t want reopened. In effect, she draws a line in the sand and dares them all to cross it.

The play, written by Jon Robin Baitz, premiered off-Broadway in January 2011 and transferred to Broadway in November 2011. The play was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

“We have a set of conservative parents, then the older son became involved in something that kind of blew up the family,” Moore said. “Later, we have the people who are home for the holidays trying to resolve this conflict.”

Moore said BLT’s producers had been interested in the play for a few years and decided to put it on this season to provide a dramatic show. The subject matter of the play also led Moore to be interested in directing it, and she said she is happy to have gotten the chance.

Because of its subject matter, the play is aimed at a more adult audience, and it features mentions of self-harm and suicide, according to Moore.

Despite the serious nature of the show, Moore said members of the cast have worked well together since rehearsals began, and their enthusiasm for the show has made it one of her favorite directing experiences so far.

“They are so terrific,” Moore said. “They were just spot on with their characters from Day One. They captured it so well, worked so well together — I could not ask for more.”

Moore said the play’s run time is a little under two hours.