“Kodachrome” features a cast of 16 students including Ruby Kingdon as the narrator. Courtesy photo

Set in the small New England town of Colchester, Adam Szymkowicz’s acclaimed play “Kodachrome” attracted Seabury Hall’s drama teacher Marsha Kelly to mount a new production in the school’s ‘A’ali’ikuhonua Creative Arts Center.

Opening on March 6 for one weekend only, “Kodachrome” has been praised for its unique blend of emotion and storytelling, exploring love, loss, and nostalgia through a series of vignettes. A dramatic comedy, it uses the metaphor of photography to examine the lives of ordinary people, blending humor with poignant moments about holding on and letting go.

“It’s a really fascinating small-town kind of play,” said Kelly. “It’s about relationships and the evolution of them. It’s quirky and fun and poignant.”

With a cast of 16, the town photographer, Suzanne, narrates the romantic entanglements and life stages of her neighbors, presenting their stories as snapshots. “She’s a narrator played by a wonderful actor, Ruby Kingdon, that floats in and out amongst the characters,” said Kelly. “She’s constantly breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience and making remarks.”

Besides Kingdon, the cast includes Kalia Durbin, Jeff Alet, Connor Ulene, and Autumn Cooney.

Rich with characters that we can all relate to, a BroadwayWorld review praised, “Most of the characters’ struggles, hopes, and fears will likely feel familiar, because they’re your struggles, hopes, and fears as well. It’s tender and poignant and awkward and funny all at the same time, just like life.”

Portland’s Willamette Week noted, “Kodachrome may be an ensemble love story, but it is also a mischievous comedy and a supernatural dream.”

Working with a group of freshman students, Kelly said, “I’m very pragmatic, and I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I looked at the time constraint. It’s a very short rehearsal period and so part of it was the way it’s broken down. It’s a little bit episodic. The same characters you get to know, but you get to know them two at a time.”

Besides the photographer, the colorful characters include a gravedigger, a hardware store owner, a policeman, a librarian, a waitress, and a mystery novelist.

“I am asking young people to be older characters,” said Kelly. “Most of them are scripted to be in their 30s or 40s. But I am not asking the kids to look physically older. The emphasis is totally on the acting. It’s challenging because many of them have done a lot more musical theater. They don’t get this kind of material often. This is an actor’s play, so they are challenged, and they’re really grabbing hold, and they kind of love it.”

Kelly’s previous Seabury productions include the drama “A Piece of My Heart” about nurses in Vietnam, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” and a contemporary spin on Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”

A prolific playwright, Szymkowicz’s plays have been produced in 16 countries. They include “Food For Fish,” “Hearts Like Fists,” “Clown Bar,” and “Adventures of Super Margaret.” He reported, “Kodachrome is the best play I’ve written.”

In a Concord Theatricals Breaking Character, Szymkowicz explained, “I write about love a lot. New love and long-lasting love and love that never was. ‘Kodachrome’ deals with a lot of different people falling in and out of love at different times in their lives. These to me are what being human is, having love and losing love and wanting love and connecting to other people. Part of what the play believes is that there is magic in the mundane so you may be able to find folks like this wherever you are.”

“Kodachrome” is presented at Seabury Hall’s ‘A’ali’ikuhonua Creative Arts Center, with performances on March 6 and 7 at 7 p.m. and March 8 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students.