The Stage Coach Players will open their mid-summer production this week, and it’s looking to be a doozy.

Private Eyes, a play by Steven Dietz, explores themes of deception, lust and the complexities of human relationships. The theater’s crew has worked long and hard in order to bring the gripping drama to life.

“Private Eyes is a great script, and I’ve been very lucky to be able to work with such a talented group of actors to help bring this show to life,” said director Josh Smith. “Ultimately, this is a story about love and the power that truth, or the lack thereof, holds over a relationship. It deals with the struggles a couple has when faced with situations where knowing the truth about a loved one and their actions can actually be more painful and scarring than helpful.”

The Stage Coach Theater has been in continuous operation in DeKalb since 1947. Since then, they have produced more than 250 plays, starring over 2,000 members of the DeKalb community. The Stage Coachers put on six shows a year, and Private Eyes in just one of the five shows produced each summer season, which runs from May to October. Shows range from campy whodunnits to spectacles of the Broadway variety, and the actors, producers and directors are passionate about each one.

“What drew me to this show is the way it explores relationships and the conflict and emotions that arise when things start to fall apart,” Smith said. “And that sometimes, in spite of a relationship’s decay, we can still find ways to love the other person, even when they’ve hurt us or we suspect that they have.”

Stagecoach productions involve many pieces coming together to form a completed work of performance art.

“I’m excited to finally bring an audience to this show,” Smith said. “We’ve been working on this for the better part of six weeks, and come Thursday we’ll finally see it all pulled together: the set, lights, costumes, hair and make-up and the actors.”