Among bustling cast and crew at rehearsal, senior Nick Ciliak fires off a line that describes Theatre Central’s fall play. “Now, none of us are any good at saying what we feel,” says Ciliak. “After all, we’re from Iowa.”

The play, “Leaving Iowa,” is a comedy about family vacations. It follows the adventures of Don Browning, who sets out to find a place to spread his dead father’s ashes. Along the way, he has flashbacks as he remembers family vacations from his childhood.

Because of these flashbacks, Ciliak, who plays the main character, has to switch between portraying Don as a young child and as an adult.

“Having to play the same character in two different stages in life, that’s the most difficult thing to do,” Ciliak said.

The other three lead performers include junior Georgia Stirtz as Sis, senior Emma Lindley as Mom, and senior Tom Wojcik as Dad.

Instead of performing in the auditorium, the year’s first main stage show is going to take place in the new black box theater. This switch is part of the reason why the show is going to run for two weekends, said Tom Ulbrich, director of theater and Theatre Central sponsor.

The new theater also allows for the possibility of a different stage set-up.

“We’ll be playing in what is called a ‘thrust’ stage, where there’s going to be audience on three sides,” said Ulbrich. “Actors don’t have to be concerned about always facing forward, now they have to be concerned about facing to the side.”

Ciliak is excited about another theater technique utilized in “Leaving Iowa.”

Suspension of disbelief is a technique used to make the audience believe an object or a place is present on stage while not recreating it fully. Since a lot of scenes take place in a car, the cast has to use four seats and a steering wheel to recreate the image of a car in the audience’s mind.

“I really like [using suspension of disbelief] because it leaves a lot up to the audience for their imagination,” said Ciliak. “It gives us a lot more freedom as actors.”

Theatre Central Treasurer Michael Vitello also welcomes the new experiences.

“We’re doing a lot of experimenting in the fall, and I think it’s cool, so we know what works and what doesn’t,” Vitello said.

In addition to being treasurer, Vitello also has one of the secondary roles in “Leaving Iowa.” He plays ‘Amish Guy,’ an Amish man that Ciliak, as Don, meets on one of his family adventures.

“When you act … even your innermost thoughts are supposed to be what your character is thinking,” said Vitello. “You’re completely filled by the role.”

Along with Ulbrich, senior student director Alexis Thies was allowed to share her vision for the play. Thies was given one scene that she “has complete ownership of [and could] block, direct, and call [her] own,” Ulbrich said.

The scene starts as a flashback where the family is trying to find Ghost Caverns, but switches back to older Don as he stops by a diner on his quest to spread the ashes.

“Mr. Ulbrich was there and he really helped me a lot, since it was my first time giving stage directions and using thrust,” Thies said.

To get the play perfected on time, the 26-actor cast practices two hours per day, four days a week. The week before the showing, dubbed “hell week’’, pushes the cast and crew to their limits, Ulbrich said.

Despite this, Ulbrich doesn’t lose sight of the ultimate purpose.

“My primary goal is that [the cast and crew] are having fun,” said Ulbrich. “If you’re not having fun, why do it?”

“Anybody’s who’s ever been on a family vacation is going to be able to identify with this show,” said Ulbrich. “I think they’ll see a little bit of themselves in the characters.”

“Leaving Iowa” will be performed on Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.