Above: Boop.

Friendships have a track record of blossoming in strange places. Maybe it happens in the deli line, or outside a nightclub, or in the aftermath of a fender bender. Maybe, for Doug and Kayleen, characters in the Rajiv Joseph penned stage-play Gruesome Playground Injuries, their friendship blooms in various hospital emergency rooms. Directed by Jake Lindgren, the State Theatre will have have three performances of the 18+ backstage show. Gruesome Playground Injuries stars Molly Wilson and Sean Porten as two childhood friends whose lives seem to intersect at the most bizarre intervals. They find themselves comparing the scars of when one or the other, often both, have been injured. Doug is a risk-taker with an aptitude for daredevil-ish behavior, while Kayleen struggles with the results of some internal and emotional damages. The two wounded souls find a much needed intimacy through their mutual afflictions. The writer, Rajiv Joseph, is a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of numerous award winning theatrical productions, including Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. He has two new plays set to premiere this year. Gruesome Playground Injuries is a touching character study, that explores the reasons why people hurt themselves. It employs the use of a fairly minimal set-up to convey the 30-year relationship between its two lead characters. Accompanying the actors is an original score by Landon Profaizor.

Gruesome Playground Injuries • Mar. 17 - 19 • 7:30pm • The State Theatre, 316 Eau Claire St., Eau Claire • $10 •  (715) 832-2787 • www.eauclairearts.com