Staff photo / Andy Gray Brett Bunker, left, plays a World War II veteran and Molly Cravalho plays an amphetamine-popping, hard-drinking big band arranger in Norm Foster’s play “Storm Warning.”

Jessie Bryner, who has handled various behind-the-scenes tasks at Trumbull New Theatre, takes the director’s chair for its production of “Storm Warning.”

TNT invites directors to submit plays they are interested in directing when putting together its season, Bryner said. However, sometimes the theater receives “orphan” scripts, those with no director attached.

“I had assistant directed before and both (TNT board President) Brett Bunker and (treasurer) Lisa Bennett approached me and gave me the encouragement to take this on and kind of get my feet wet in the directing world,” Bryner said.

“Storm Warning” is set in 1953 in Canada, where World War II veteran Jack Forrester has retreated from the world and is living in a cabin in the woods. Emma Currie, an amphetamine-popping, hard-drinking big band arranger, rents the cabin next door and upends Jack’s solitary life.

“It was a little less scary because there’s only two characters, but I have found that it’s still quite challenging,” Bryner said. “Luckily, I’ve got probably two of the best that we’ve ever had at TNT.”

Bunker plays Jack and Molly Cravalho is Emma.

“With just how outgoing and unfiltered Emma can be, Molly, to me, really fits the bill,” Bryner said. “I saw her immediately in the role, and when she decided to come out for the auditions, I was over the moon that I was able to cast her.

“And Brett, he’s such a chameleon. He can play just about anything. What he has brought to Jack, who is kind of a solemn character, and then seeing him kind of come out as Emma draws him out, Brett’s been amazing for that. He was the perfect choice.”

Bunker also has directed several shows at TNT, and Bryner said she’s relied on his experience in her directing debut.

“Brett has been essential in putting this together, between designing the set, building the majority of the set, helping me in directing and figuring out blocking, even costuming,” she said. “Being a volunteer theater, we don’t always have enough people to do all the jobs that need to be done, but he’s been absolutely amazing.”

Even with only two actors, there are a multitude of small and big decisions that needed to be made about staging throughout rehearsals, and Bryner worked closely with Bunker and Cravalho in making those choices. Another challenge was the period setting of the play.

“It’s been interesting, especially when it comes to finding certain props and things, like trying to recreate a 1950s refrigerator without actually going and getting one,” she said. “Even as simple as finding a container for cream. I actually had a lot of difficulty finding a bottle that was in semi-decent condition for cream.”

In recent years, TNT and other area theaters have staged several works by playwright Norm Foster, who has been called Canada’s Neil Simon. “Storm Warning,” which Selah Dessert Theatre in Struthers presented in 2019, is one of his more seriocomic plays. It includes adult language and mention of suicide, drug use and abortion.

“His writing feels like he’s writing about real people, it’s not just fiction,” Bryner said. “I really hope people come out and see it. I know there’s not a whole lot of action to it, so it might not appeal to some of our patrons, but it’s just such a wonderful story, and Brett and Molly just do an absolutely phenomenal job.”

If you go …

WHAT: “Storm Warning”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through March 21 and 3 p.m. March 15 and 22

WHERE: Trumbull New Theatre, 5883 Youngstown Warren Road, Niles

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $17 for adults and $15 for students and are available online at trumbullnewtheatre.tix.com and by calling the TNT box office between 6 and 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at 330-652-1103.