San Francisco's Magic Theatre and The Fifth Floor ensemble will collaborate on Summertime, a new play by Charles Mee Jr.. The production will be shown to the public in a work-in progress state, June 23 - 27, at the Magic's Northside Theatre.

Summertime's collage of characters and scenes occurs in and around a garden where rational thought does battle with the irrationality of emotion and desire. In the play, characters abandon social, economic and political connections to become united by their shared humanity. Questions of gender roles, sexual identity and cultural definitions of what's beautiful are challenged as actors with and without physical disabilities interact. The production will be directed by Ken Watt, with Pamela Walker, a casting director for the disabled community, helping with the production.

Playwright Mee has suffered from polio since his youth and previously explored a similar project with his landmark 1989 play, Another Person is a Foreign Country. Other works by Mee include: Trojan Women: A Love Story, The Berlin Circle (directed by Tina Landau), and Orestes. Mee's plays are typically open in structure, creating more questions than answers about a situation.

For tickets, call (415) 441-8822.

-- By Sean McGrath