A journalist and a Marine walk into a briefing room. It’s more complicated than it sounds.

Somewhere deep in the Middle East, a journalist is trying to get a US Marine public affairs officer to confirm a story. That’s tense enough on its own, but there’s a catch: the officer is her brother, and he already knows she won’t back down easily.

That’s the setup for The Three O’Clock Briefing, a new play by Bo Wilson getting a developmental staged developmental production at Richmond Triangle Players from April 23 through May 2. The production is part of RTP’s So.Queer Playwrights’ Initiative and will be directed by artistic director Lucian Restivo.

The play follows Roberta “Bobbi” Bookman and her brother Cary as they spar over what can and can’t be said on the record. But the longer they circle each other, the more personal it gets. What starts as professional friction gives way to older, deeper wounds. Wilson’s script moves between sharp humor and raw confrontation, building a story about history, family, and the narratives people construct when the truth is too painful to face head-on.

Two RTP veterans take the stage

Kendall Walker and Evan Nasteff will play the Bookman siblings. Both are familiar faces at RTP. Walker has appeared in productions including Airswimming and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche and directed Scrooge in Rouge and The Rocky Horror Show. She’s currently performing in Richmond Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Nasteff’s RTP credits include The Pride, Cabaret, and This Bitter Earth.

Wilson has written more than 30 plays. His play, The Charitable Sisterhood of the Second Trinity Victory Church, premiered at Virginia Rep’s Hanover Tavern and has since been produced across the country and internationally. The Boatwright won two national awards, and his The Bookbinder’s Tale was a finalist for the National Playwrights’ Conference at the O’Neill Theatre Center in 2016. His work has been published by Dramatic Publishing, Samuel French, and Algonquin Press.

If you go

Performances run Thursday through Sunday evenings at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 4 p.m. Tickets are $35, or $15 for students, with discounts available for groups of 10 or more. They can be purchased at rtriangle.org. RTP’s Bar None will be open before the show and at intermission with Virginia Spirits cocktails and a wine menu curated by sommelier Jessee Bowers.