From left, McKenna Lago, Ron Wolford and Connie Cassidy are shown in a scene from the Neil Simon comedy "Plaza Suite," which opens Friday for a three-weekend run at Trumbull New Theatre in Niles. (Staff photo / Andy Gray)

Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” will close Trumbull New Theatre’s 2022-23 season.

The comedy is three plays in one, telling three stories that all take place in the same suite at New York City’s Plaza Hotel.

“The first act is about a couple dealing with an unhappy marriage,” director Emma Wason said. “In the second, high school sweethearts meet years later, and the third is about a bride’s wedding day fears and what that evokes in her parents’ marriage.”

The play opened on Broadway in 1968 with George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton playing the main characters in all three stories. Real-life husband-and-wife Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker starred in the 2022 Broadway revival. The 1971 film version featured Walter Matthau as the male lead in each story but opposite three different women (Stapleton, Barbara Harris and Lee Grant).

Wason wanted to take a different approach with her staging.

“This was originally written with one couple playing all three couples,” she said. “I wanted each story to stand alone with different actors and give the audience a fresh perspective. I went into the auditions with an open mind, but I was able to find enough talented people, and each one brought their own perspective to the characters and it made for a great collaborative process.”

Ron Wolford and Connie Cassidy star in the first story, Harmon Andrews and Jessica Ludovici are the couple in the second act, and Jenny Long and Robert Spain play the husband-and-wife in the third act. The cast also includes McKenna Lago, Kaitlyn Shaffer and Aaron Holden.

This is the second Simon play Wason has directed at TNT. She did Simon’s first play, 1961’s “Come Blow Your Horn,” in 2012.

“‘Plaza Suite” was performed on Broadway about seven years later,” Wason said. “What appealed to me is you saw the growth in Neil Simon’s writing. His plays have stood the test of time because they are character-driven, which is something that appeals to me.”

Wason said she read an interview with Simon where he said, “Never try to make comedy funny. Honesty will do nicely, thank you.”

“He deals with situations where humor can be found,” she said. “Nothing is done in the words or stage directions just for laughs.”

For this production, Wason kept the setting in the 1960s and didn’t update any of the references.

“The costumes, set, props, even the music we play before the show represents the era,” she said.

If you go…

WHAT: “Plaza Suite”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through May 20 and 2 p.m. May 14 and 21

WHERE: Trumbull New Theatre, 5883 Youngstown Warren Road, Niles

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $17 for adults and $15 for students and are available online at trumbullnewtheatre.tix.com and by calling the TNT box office at 330-652-1103.