On the edge

COEUR d'ALENE - Let's set the scene.

Two men, longtime best friends, love mountain climbing. They decide to tackle K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest.

There's an accident, a fall, and they wind up on a small ledge, stuck. They're 27,000 feet up, they have one rope, and one of them has a broken leg.

What follows, for an hour and 10 minutes, is the story behind "K2." It's what they talk about, what they share, what they decide in this life-and-death situation. Who lives, who dies. Both. Neither.

There are no side character or secondary stories. This is it.

That's what George Green and Todd Kehne will bring to the stage at the Lake City Playhouse when K2 opens Friday.

"It's a beautiful story. It's uplifting. It has its sad moments about it, but it really is about the human spirit, and it's about friendship that will bring some people together," Green said.

K2, directed by Troy Nickerson, opens tonight.

The two-man drama is a nice change from working with a cast of 30 or 40, Nickerson said.

"It's nice to do a smaller play with two really talented actors," he said.

The entire play takes place on a ledge where the men fell. Green plays Harold, who has a broken leg. Kehne plays Taylor.

With no scene changes and no costume changes, Nickerson worked with the actors on their lines and crafting each moment, each conversation between the men.

It's the words that explain their relationship and how they care for the other.

The men found themselves in a situation few will ever face, forced to make decisions few would ever make in a lifetime. Only one, at best, can survive.

Nickerson said K2 is "a well-acted piece of theater" that few have seen or will get a chance to see in the Inland Northwest.

Written by Patrick Meyers, K2 is described as "The recognition that human beings are free to choose whether they will live or die and do so calmly and objectively is explored as two climbers are stranded on an icy ledge on one of the world's highest mountains."

Green and Kehne are hoping to pack the house.

"This is a great story to review, a rare opportunity for local folks to see a powerful play that may not ever be staged again," Green said.

Both men are experienced rock climbers and wanted to perform in K2. Green first saw it years ago in Lubbock, Texas, "and fell in love with it." Kehne quickly accepted the role.

Both said it's a story of two men who, facing what could be their final days, share thoughts, beliefs, happenings, they've never shared before.

"It's all about internal things going on, coming out in the open for the first time," Green said.

There are things, no matter how long or how well you've known someone, you will never know about them. The casual conversation over beer won't be the same as a heart-to-heart on a ledge.

It's stuff like that that comes out when you realize your days are numbered.

"All of the sudden, they're here in this situation, things are coming out. They haven't mentioned before, despite their long friendship," Kehne said.

K2 does contain some profanities, but perhaps that's not too surprising.

"There's two guys getting ready to figure out what's going to happen with their lives," Green said.

Green and Kehne prepared for their roles by watching some mountain climbing videos and reading up on it.

Throughout the show, they wear expedition clothing including pants, coats, hoods, hats, gloves, masks, helmets, eye protection, boots, shin/boot guards and crampons.

"It gets a little toasty, Kehne said.

Gear that is either in pack, on set, or secured for actual climbing use includes harnesses, belay devices, quick draws, carabiners, climbing axes, ice hammers, ice screws, webbing, robe, safety blankets, O2 bottles, food, water, sunscreen and slings.

All that is necessary to survive on K2, which is part of the Karakoram Range and is on the border between Pakistan and China.

The two actors have shared the stage before, in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" several years ago.

Kehne just wrapped up being in "It's a Wonderful Life," while Green is directing "Sweeney Todd" that opens Feb. 8 at the Playhouse.

When Nickerson came available to direct them in K2, it was the right people coming together at the right moment.

Where one might think the pressure is greater with only two cast members who never leave the spotlight, that's not the case.

Both said there's no worries about cast or something going on. It's just two guys and a stage.

"Once we were out here, it's just the two of us. I'll carry my end and George will carry his," he said.

Like the characters they play, the men have nowhere to go once the curtain rises.

"There's actually a line in the play, once you are where you are, you can't run away from it," Green said.

K2 is a show rarely performed and perhaps never here.

"I would say don't miss it," Green said.

"This isn't something that's going to be reproduced every four or five years. It's not 'Oklahoma,'" Kehne said.

So, last question: Do these two men survive?

Both Green and Kehne smile.

No comment.

You'll have to see the show.

If you go

“K2” runs Jan. 4 to Jan. 20 at the Lake City Playhouse. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. The Playhouse is at 1320 E. Garden Ave. Info: 667-1323