If you’ve been around here long enough, you know I’m a big fan of the Tamaqua Drama Club. Unless you live under a rock, you also probably know that the Tamaqua Drama Club does a phenomenal job on every production. From the acting and singing to the set to the sound to the playbills to the refreshments and on and on, really everything this group does is absolutely top tier.

One of the things I love most about this group is that their adviser occasionally takes on productions of less well-known shows, which allows for both a unique experience for the viewers and a chance for high school students to make roles their own, instead of falling into familiar Broadway or Hollywood characters. I may be slightly scarred from having seen high school productions of Oklahoma and Bye-Bye Birdie about two dozen times, each, but I always look forward to seeing something new.

This year, the club is trying something new: a single act play, staged in the school’s courtyard area. The “stage” is a whole other story, and one I’m going to say should best be enjoyed in person. What I want to talk about is the play itself, “Theory of Relativity.” I asked A, who is a member of the cast, to summarize what the show is about.

According to A, “Theory of Relativity is an exploration of how we as humans view and value others, how something as meaningless as a passing glance can become a person’s entire world, and most importantly how seemingly unlike persons can find common ground in shared experiences, beliefs, emotions, and the ability to empathize with others.” Perhaps I made a mistake asking him that question the same day as he took his AP English Composition exam but based on what I’ve read about and heard about the play, I think he covered all the bases.

I’ve learned that when I don’t know a play by heart already, it’s better to be surprised by the first production rather than to listen to a soundtrack and form ideas about what the show is about based on the songs. It’s kind of like reading the book before seeing a movie and being disappointed. Not that I’m ever disappointed, it just changes the experience, and I don’t recommend it. On the other hand, I do have to listen to whatever A’s songs are on repeat for months on end. In that case, it’s like finding that one final piece of the puzzle that was missing, and I find myself saying, “ah, that’s where that one goes.”

From the beginning, this show has been unique. Due to the demands of their other productions, the actors had to submit their auditions via video. I always love running lines with A and helping him develop his character. We had fun preparing it, him using one of Steve’s deer heads as a stand in for the person his character is interacting with.

Right away, the catchiness of the music, the puns, and the other plays on words throughout the dialogue intrigued me. The cast is also playing a bunch of college-aged kids, in one college classroom. A didn’t have to stretch his imagination or creative muscles very far as he, and the rest of the cast, will be living this role within the next few years.

Between what A has told me and what I’ve skimmed online for a few details, I feel like this play might just be a good reminder for everyone to “be kind, because we never know what someone else is going through.” From what I gather, each of the main characters is facing a unique challenge, maybe discovering who they are, battling with others’ expectations, making decisions that turn out to have drastically different consequences than they expected, and a whole host of other situations, that again, I think many young (and older) people will be able to relate to on some level.

Empathy is a word that A used in his description, and it’s a word he uses frequently. I’m trying to remember being 17 and if empathy was anything more to my vocabulary than an SAT word. I don’t think it was. Did we not need to know what empathy was back then? Did we have it and just not know what to call it? I’m not sure. But I do know now that it is needed more than ever, and I’m glad that it’s a word that A is comfortable using.

Most of the reviews of the original production of “Theory” (as we call it for short) are overwhelmingly positive. Most of them use words like “uplifting” and “hopeful.” Knowing A and his friends as well as I do, I am always “hopeful” and “uplifted” when they come together, from all their different backgrounds, to create a magical and powerful performance of any kind, so this one should really be amazing. Anything that promotes understanding and finding common ground with another individual, and includes catchy tunes and an occasional math pun gets rave reviews in my book.

On a personal note, A is a junior, and he is very close to the seniors that will be graduating in a few weeks. While seeing friends off to college is not quite as dramatic as it used to be, thanks to social media and cellphones, I do know that A is going to have a senior sized hole in his heart come next fall. I hope that this final show with them will always serve as a reminder to all of them how we are all connected and the influence we have in each other’s lives.

Tickets for the show can be purchased online at ticketleap.com, search for Tamaqua. Any unsold tickets will be available at the door one hour before show time. The show will be held on May 18, 19, and 20, beginning at 8 p.m., and running for approximately 90 minutes.

Liz Pinkey is a contributing columnist who appears weekly in the Times News.