Island Theatre will present a staged reading of the 2009 drama “Time Stands Still” by Donald Margulies next week at the Bainbridge Public Library.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. both Saturday, Oct. 21, and Sunday, Oct. 22, and are free to attend, with donations accepted.

In “Time Stands Still,” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Margulies dissects the relationship between a photojournalist and a foreign correspondent — both once addicted to the adrenaline of documenting the atrocities of war, and now grounded in the couple’s Brooklyn loft.

Photographer Sarah (Jennifer Jett) was seriously injured while covering the war in Iraq; her reporter partner James (Sam McJunkin) had left weeks earlier, when the stress and horrors became too much for him. Now, James writes online movie reviews while Sarah recovers and itches to get back behind the camera.

When their best friend, Richard (Tell Schreiber), brings his new, young girlfriend (Bronsyn Foster) to visit, their burgeoning relationship makes James and Sarah examine their own relationship and way of life. Can two people who are used to living dangerously manage to carve out a normal life?

With wit and intelligence, this quietly powerful drama addresses both this question and the crises of conscience that can afflict creative people dealing with the moral compromises their work sometimes entails.

“Time Stands Still” is directed by Kate Carruthers and features Lynn Murphy as the Narrator.

“It’s about the complex messed up world we live in today, and people who are trying to make a difference in it as journalists,” Carruthers said. “I saw it in New York seven years ago. The cast was terrific, but the play has stayed with me because of the writing and the characters. I still think about the moral dilemmas, the fears, and the courage of each of them.”

The play is recommended for those high school age and older only.

Founded on Bainbridge Island in 1994, Island Theatre’s mission is to provide quality theatre, geared toward mature audiences, onstage and in less conventional venues, through plays that challenge performers artistically while both entertaining and intellectually engaging audiences. Its regular schedule includes bi-monthly staged play readings at the Bainbridge Public Library; potluck dinners in privately hosted homes at which guests are welcome to join in a selected play reading; and the annual Island Theatre Ten-Minute Play Festival.

Visit www.IslandTheatre.org for more information.