This weekend: Your first and last chance to see Gravity Defied's production of "The Last Five Years"

Photo by Heather L. Smith / The Aurora Sentinel

If you blink, you very well may miss the Gravity Defied Theatre company’s latest creative experiment.

This weekend, the troupe will tackle “The Last 5 Years,” Jason Robert Brown’s musical that tracks the birth and death of a romantic relationship over the course of five years. Audiences won’t have long to catch the show – the musical’s run is only one weekend.

“I really wanted to create that piece and bring the truth to it,” said director Benji Schirm in an interview with the Sentinel last month. “I’m going to put my all into a piece of art, whether it runs for one performance or whether it runs for two years. I have enough pride to think that one weekend is still important.”

The show represents a new creative step for Aurora’s youngest theater company. “The Last 5 Years” offers a challenging score and an equally demanding narrative structure. The two characters tell the story of a failed romantic relationship from two different points in time.

“It’s pretty much the relationship musical ... It’s told from the perspective of two people, Jaimie and Cathy,” said Gravity Defied founder and artistic director Keith Rabin Jr. “She starts at the end of the relationship, he starts at the beginning.”

The non-linear structure of the piece is bound to challenge the cast, crew and audience, Rabin added.

Gravity Defied’s production of “The Last 5 Years” will run at 7:30 p.m. on May 6 and May 7 at 7:30 p.m. and at 4 p.m. on May 8. All performances will take place at Studio Theatre, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. For more information and ticket sales, call 303-957-8186 or log on to www.rmarts.org/gravitydefied.php.