Arcale Peace, left, and Terry Shears are shown in a scene from “The Day They Shot John Lennon,” which opens Friday at Youngstown Playhouse’s Moyer Room.

YOUNGSTOWN — Frank Martin describes Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “The Day They Shot John Lennon” as being 22 years in the making.

He has wanted to direct the James McLure play since he first read the play in 2000 while doing “Kent State: A Requiem” in the Playhouse’s arena theater.

“I thought it would be the perfect venue for the show,” Martin said.

That performance space no longer exists, but Martin will be staging “Lennon” in the Playhouse’s Moyer Room for a two-weekend run starting Friday.

The play doesn’t depict Lennon’s murder on Dec. 8, 1980, outside of his New York apartment by Mark David Chapman, and no one in the cast plays the former Beatle. Instead, the drama focuses on the people who gathered outside of the Dakota building in the aftermath of the shooting.

Some gather to mourn, like high school students Mikey, Kevin and Sally. Others, like struggling Vietnam War veterans Silvio and Gately, see it as an opportunity to pick some pockets and make a little money. The focus is more on the people Lennon’s death brings together.

And while the play is 22 years old and it’s set 20 years before that, Martin said it’s still timely today.

“I really liked these characters when I first read the play,” he said. “I’ve been telling people these characters could be transposed to 2022 and they wouldn’t be any different. When they come to see it, they will see a lot of different facets of American society … There are some dated references, but the themes and subject matter — war, capitalism, sexism, racism — are present now. What were pretty hot topics in 1980 are still hot topics today.”

The cast features Eric Kibler, Chris DeFrank, Brandy Johanntges, Carl Brockway, Terry Shears, Arcale Peace, Joshua Yoder, Meredith Pallo and Cyrus Dzikowski.

“I was really happy with the cast I got,” Martin said. “Terry Shears and Arcale Peace, they create absolute magic in their scenes together.”

Martin was only 11 years old when Lennon was murdered, and his mother was not a fan of rock music, so he became a Beatles’ fan later in life, particularly after he saw the documentary “Imagine: John Lennon.” He likes Lennon, but admitted he was more partial to McCartney’s contributions to the Fab Four.

The Playhouse audience will hear some of the Beatles’ and Lennon’s music on the soundtrack even if they don’t see anyone dressed as Lennon on stage. There are a few music cues in the script, but Martin said he gave a lot of thought to all of the music he used, even at intermission.

“I take music very seriously as far as what music I want to put in the show,” he said. “The play doesn’t call for an intermission, but as we were rehearsing, it became more apparent that we kind of do need an intermission, and I found the perfect place to put one.”

During the intermission, the soundtrack starts with “Hey Jude,” a song Paul McCartney wrote for Lennon’s son, Julian, with his first wife. It’s followed by “Valotte,” recorded by Julian Lennon and, “He definitely was able to evoke John’s spirit,” Martin said. It ends with “Beautiful Boy,” a song John Lennon wrote for Sean Lennon, his son with Yoko Ono.

“I think if John had lived, he eventually would have reconciled and repented, as far as how he treated Julian,” Martin said. “I like to think some kind of reconciliation would have happened.”

If you go …

WHAT: “The Day They Shot John Lennon”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 20

WHERE: Moyer Room, Youngstown Playhouse, 600 Playhouse Lane, Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $20 and are available online at youngstownplayhouse.org and by calling 330-788-8739.