(Left to right) Paul Hughes, Adrian Deane, Chad Clevenger and Natasha Harris make up the cast of Benicia Old Town Theatre Group’s “Coming Apart,” which opens Friday. (Photo by Joe Messina Photography)

The title of the play is “Coming Apart,” but Benicia Old Town Theatre Group’s spring play is coming together nicely and will open on Friday.

Fred Carmichael’s 1994 play centers around married couple Frances and Colin Kittridge, whose marriage is crumbling. Colin works as a humor columnist and Frances as a romance novelist, giving them a sense of rivalry as writers. Both have conflicting memories about how they met and how Colin proposed, and they have differing views of the future. In the meantime, they confide in a pair of friends— Bert and Sylvia— who try to help but only complicate matters. The events are eerily similar to those in a book Frances is writing titled “How to Survive a Marriage.”

BOTTG publicist Dyanne Vojvoda said the production has been a finalist for the organization’s Play Selection Committee for a number of years, but it has always missed having the number of votes to be chosen for a season. Now the play will grace BOTTG’s stage, and Vojvoda is very excited about it.

“It’s an exciting show for actors,” she said. “There are only four characters in it— two couples— but they change times and ages. It’s very interesting for an actor because one minute, you’re 40 years old and in five seconds, you have to change to be 20 years old. Another time, you may have to change to be 65 years old. For actors, that’s really a nice challenge.”

For its cast, BOTTG settled on a mix of new and returning faces. Natasha Harris and Paul Hughes, both fresh off Arty Award wins last fall for their performances in 2016’s production “The Game’s Afoot,” will return to the BOTTG stage as Frances and Colin respectively. The two are rounded out by Adrian Deane and Chad Cleveneger as Sylvia and Bert respectively. Deane is a Bay Area actress who has appeared in short films and recently portrayed Muriel the Goat and Moses the Raven in Danville Role Players’ production of “Animal Farm.” Clevenger, a Vallejo actor, has had frequent roles in his town’s Shakespeare in the Park productions, performed with various theater companies and had a non-speaking role in Netflix’s series “13 Reasons Why.”

According to Vojvoda, the actors are a lot of fun to work with.

“They are down-to-earth, very fun people,” she said. “They get along, they help each other with lines, they give directions and the director takes that into account. They’re a pleasure to work with.”

“I think they’re gonna be good friends after the show ends,” she added.

The play is directed by Angelina LaBarre, a theater instructor at Contra Costa College, whose past works include “The Laramie Project” and “How We Got On.” Vojvoda said LaBarre’s name had been thrown around as a possible director for BOTTG productions in the past, but this is the first time she has gotten to work with them.

“She’s really quite lovely to work with, so we’re pleased to work with her for the first time,” Vojvoda said.

As is typical for BOTTG productions, putting on “Coming Apart” presented challenges. In this case, it was working with a different set in a small space.

“Our set designer, Brian Hough, has designed a stage that has a minimal set which is its own challenge,” she said. “You’ve got lighting difficulties, and you’ve got areas that you’ve got to blacken and hide. Even though it’s not four walls or doors or archways, it’s open space. We have to utilize that very carefully.”

Despite that, Vojvoda said she likes the set very much. She also feels it is rewarding to see the characters come to life.

Vojvoda hopes audiences will be taken in by how well “Coming Apart” portrays universal experiences.

“It’s sort of everyday experiences,” she said. “People have gone through the romance periods in their life or difficulty in a relationship. I think it’s of interest to anybody. It’s a pleasing show.”

“Coming Apart” opens Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m. with a champagne gala featuring food catered by Venticello’s Ristorante Italiano. The first performance will begin at 8 p.m. that night. Tickets for opening night are $30. After this, the show will be performed at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. The play will run through Saturday, May 12. Tickets for shows after the opening night are $22 for general admission and $20 for students as well as seniors ages 62 and older. All shows will be performed at BDES Hall, located at 140 West J St. The doors open one hour before the curtain. For more information, go to beniciaoldtowntheatregroup.com or call 746-1269.

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