Adam Rapp’s “Gompers” is titled after a small town in Pennsylvania that has lost its identity by the closing of the steel industry.

“Everyone in Gompers knows everything about each other and they’re all connected in some way,” said director Christopher Guthrie. “The play follows 10 characters through two days of their lives. Whatever someone does has consequences they may not see.”

When the plant closed, the residents not only found themselves without identity, but without purpose or anything to do.

“They have to wonder how they will make money and how they will live when no one cares what they do,” Guthrie said. “Many of them make bad and typically American choices — petty crime and involvement in drugs.”

The “very real” characters include a pregnant teenager trying to figure out what to do, her 30-something boyfriend who is a people-user, an angry young black man who everyone else is afraid of and a Korean war veteran who feels as if society has left him to his own devices.

“The texture of the characters goes so deep,” Guthrie said, “and the play is definitely on the dark side.
“Rapp does a good job of identifying new American archetypes for his time in the same way that Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams did for theirs.

Referring to the Paul Thomas Anderson film, Guthrie said the play ends in “a ‘Magnolia’ moment, but without the frogs.”

“All of their stars converge in a very theatrical moment,” he said.

how to go
THE NAME: “Gompers” by Adam Rapp.
THE LOCATION: Know Theatre Company, 1120 Jackson St., Cincinnati.
THE HOURS: 8 p.m. Jan. 11-Feb. 3; 4 p.m. Jan. 14
THE TAB: $20 adults; $15 students/seniors; $10 student rush tickets.
THE PHONE: (513) 621-2787; knowtheatre.com.

A version of this story ran in the Go! section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.