Twelve-year-old Malibu entered the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, unfazed by the old man chained to the floor. The man, revealed to be her grandfather, told Malibu her parents were not good people. Malibu, sharp-tongued, insisted “My parents love me.”

Malibu, beginning to understand her dangerous reality, was faced with the decision of what she wanted for her own life, even if it meant isolation in an unknown world.

Run of the Mill Theatre presented “The Sound of Waves Crashing on an Island of Broken Glass,” a new play by Shawn Overton at the Artifactory running from Oct. 27-29 and Nov. 5-7.

The play premiered in March 2019 in Merce, California. Among the original audience members were Run of the Mill Theatre Productions Director James McIntyre and Production Assistant Nicole Terry; both were haunted by the performance and jumped on the opportunity to produce it.

“It really kind of dives deep into the individual and the choices you make and the importance of family, but how that can be damaging,” Terry said.

The show used the depiction of Malibu’s memories to guide the audience through her point of view. As the show progressed, Malibu realized the horror of her parents’ criminal lifestyles and the role they expected her to play.

Actor AJ Sear said the show portrays the demand between loyalty and individuality.

“When those who are supposedly in your corner [and] their demands are so high, you have to sacrifice your own individuality,” Sear said.

In one scene, Malibu, played by 12-year-old Viola McConville, wakes to Astin, played by 10-year-old Maxwell Seaman G’sell, handcuffed at her kitchen table.

The two bond over their strange names, dysfunctional families, and their love of dance. For a moment, it seemed Malibu made a friend, but the scene took a horrible turn as Malibu was faced with an impossible task.

“It breaks me,” McConville said of the scene.

Considering the dark nature of the show, RoM was careful to maintain the emotional safety of the cast. An intimacy coordinator gave them the tools to maintain separation between their characters and themselves.

“I can stay in a room and be myself but then walk through the aisle onto the stage and know, ‘Okay I’m in my character right now,’” Seaman G’sell said.

RoM’s production of “The Sound of Waves Crashing on an Island of Broken Glass” is the first performance outside California. Co-director Rich LeMay expressed that RoM’s mission fit that of the original play: to tell an unseen story.