The Baton Rouge theatre community has been buzzing with news of some of its stars creating a new theatre company. On Oct. 10, Strike Theatre Co. will open its first production ever, “The Last Five Years.”

“The Last Five Years” is an award-winning Broadway show that recently had a revival with Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren. The show follows Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt as they go through their five-year relationship, from their falling in love to their inevitable divorce. The asynchronous show is a favorite of the theatre community.

Strike Theatre Co.’s production will star Kristina Cawthon, who most recently performed in Sullivan’s “She Loves Me” and “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and Landon Corbin, who was recently in “Noises Off” with the Sullivan Theatre.

Calla Harper and Spenser Hunt are the directors for the show, and they feel strongly about the show itself as well as the beginning of Strike Theatre Co.

“It’s a show we all love very, very dearly, and are very passionate about,” Harper said. “Music-wise, story-wise, it’s also a very intimate show. It’s a very beautiful story, very passionate, emotional story and I think we’re all kind of obsessed with it. So, kind of a dream project for all of us.”

Hunt’s partner, Nick White, is the one leading the charge behind the creation of Strike Theatre Co. Hunt said it was a lifelong dream of White’s to create a theatre company, and with the loss of Theatre Baton Rouge, White thought it was the right time.

“It’s not about him, or Calla, or me — it’s about hopefully starting to provide a new space for new people to come in and do theatre, and do new shows, and things we’re passionate about,” Hunt said.

An LSU alum with a master’s in Choral conducting, White has more than just an ear for music. In addition to founding Strike Theatre Co., he also works for the Baton Rouge Symphony. His main goal in creating the theatre company is to foster a close-knit community.

“Outside of doing shows, I really want to just have a community of people that support each other in whatever it is that they do,” White said. “Whether it be acting, or singing, or dancing, or art, we can come together, have a good time and support each other.”

White’s wheelhouse is often music. He said that, inherently, a lot of Strike Theatre Co.’s future work may have musical influence, but that he wanted to open the company up to everything.

“For Strike Theatre, we value doing things that may not be conventional,” White said. “We want to be able to do different interpretations of shows. Sure, someone has done ‘The Last Five Years’ before, they’ve talked about these relationships, but what are other ways we can show those relationships?”

“The Last Five Years” will be staged in the Baton Rouge Arts Council’s Black Box, a small venue in a similar shape to an “in the round” stage. These stages have the audience spread out on multiple sides, where the actors are settled in the middle.

“Cal and I have focused a lot on the directing of the show, on really hitting home the emotional points,” Hunt said. “This story, for all intensive purposes, is just a musical about a relationship, right? The stakes are particularly high, but we want you to feel like it’s the most important thing while you’re watching it. Because in the world of Cathy and Jamie, it is.”

Hunt and Harper wanted to portray a different interpretation of the show, really focusing on the complexities of a failing relationship.

“We want people to really get an understanding for who these characters are and understand that there are three sides to every love story,” Harper said. “One of them is Cathy, one of them is Jamie, and one of them is the truth somewhere in the middle.”

Harper added that their goal was to make the characters feel as real as possible. One of the important themes the pair focused on while directing the show was the idea of time.

“We’re not really in control of the people that come into and out of our lives, but we are in control of the present and how we treat that,” Harper said. “Maybe ultimately the relationship doesn’t end up working out, but there’s a lot of beautiful things that may have happened in between.”

Harper felt one of the hardest moments during the show’s creation was actually deciding who to choose as Jamie and Cathy. She said there were 14 different people who would have been equally perfect, but the cast Hunt and Harper chose in the end was the right choice.

“The process with Landon and Christina has been really, really wonderful,” Harper said. “They’re both just very genuine, caring, loving people; they care about this show, and they both work insanely hard, and they care about the quality of their work so much it has shown in every aspect of the rehearsal process.”

Hunt highlighted that both directors and both actors walked in having ideas of who these characters are, but over time, the characters developed into something much more beautiful, complex and collective.

Hunt and Harper agreed there. For Hunt, it was about the special way the show is formatted.

Hunt found it incredibly important that any audience member unfamiliar with “The Last Five Years” isn’t confused about how the story is told. The show starts in two places — Cathy sings about the end of the relationship and Jamie sings about the beginning. The characters are on opposite ends of the timeline throughout most of the show.

Their hope is to not just build community but also give ways for anyone in the local community to get involved and feel part of something great. Hunt believes supporting local theatre is the most important part of attending any production.

“In a perfect world, Strike becomes a land of opportunity,” Hunt said, “and that’s kind of what we envision for it. And ‘The Last Five Years’ seems like a really strong way to start.”

Both Harper and Hunt emphasized the intimacy of the show, from the close space to the full band that will accompany the actors. Hunt said their main goal is to entertain Strike’s audience.

“Entertaining for us isn’t necessarily that we want you to be smiley and laugh the whole time, but we want you to remember it,” Hunt said. “We want you to be glad, when the 90 minutes are up, that you came and that you were a part of the very first production of a theatre company. There is only one first time. And this is Strike’s first time.”

“The Last Five Years” at the Baton Rouge Arts Council Black Box will run from Oct. 10 to 12. There are currently still tickets available, but they are going fast.