In the play "Everything is Wonderful," based on a true story, an Amish family takes steps to forgive a distracted driver who plowed into the family’s horse-drawn buggy, killing two of its sons. Here, daughter Miri (Alex Spieth), who has left the Amish community, shares a light moment with Abram (Steve Polites). The play continues at Everyman Theatre through Feb. 24. Photo by ClintonBPhotography

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In 2013, filmmaker Werner Herzog released a short film, From One Second to the Next, which dealt with tragedies born of texting while driving.

One of the stories told in the film is that of Chandler Gerber. In 2012, while sending a text to his wife, he plowed his car into a horse-drawn Amish buggy, killing three children.

As Amish culture emphasizes the importance of forgiveness, the family of the children reached out to Gerber, sending him a letter saying, “Wishing you the best with your little one and the unknown future…Keep looking up. God is always there.”

Inspired by this true-life tale, playwright Chelsea Marcantel developed her play, Everything Is Wonderful, now on stage at Everyman Theatre in downtown Baltimore.

A very different culture

Everything Is Wonderful provides a rarely seen look into the life of an Amish family. It explains their traditions and cultural mores, and explores what happens when there are disruptions — whether from within or from outside forces — that threaten members’ adherence to the rules and laws of the community.

Everyman staple Bruce Randolph Nelson plays Jacob, the paternal head of the Amish family, who carries himself on stage as a man heavily weighted down with the pain of a father who has lost his two sons.

The cause of that unfathomable loss, Eric (Tony Nam), arrives at Jacob’s door one evening, literally shaking with guilt. He comes seeking punishment, begging Jacob and his wife, Esther (Deborah Hazlett), to “press charges” for the auto accident that claimed their sons’ lives.

Instead, Jacob and his family take in Eric, allowing him to work and live on their farm. In so doing, Jacob finds a way to temper the tempest of emotions he is battling as he grieves the loss of his sons.

On the other hand, while Eric has his adopted family’s forgiveness for the accident, he can’t find a way to forgive himself.

Intertwining stories

Eric’s story line is one of several that intertwine throughout the two-plus hours of the play, as the playwright jumps back and forth through time.

A second storyline follows Jacob and Esther’s daughter, Miri (Alex Spieth), who has left home to live among the “English,” i.e. outside the Amish community.

Miri’s break with her roots has a number of roots itself, including one with sizable shoulders named Abram (Steve Polites).

However, Abram’s desire to enforce what he perceives as God’s will interferes with his relationship with Miri, driving him toward Miri’s sister, the practically angelic Ruth (Hannah Kelly).

Finding forgiveness

All these stories work themselves out on an austere and rustic stage (kudos to set designer Daniel Ettinger) that gives a truly Amish feel to the set.

What connects them all is the underlying theme of forgiveness — a principle that sits at the core of the community’s religious beliefs. It is also part of the “Ordnung” (the German word for “order”), the principles followed by each Amish church district on how life should be lived.

Abram has followed the community’s “Ordnung” for achieving forgiveness, confessing his sins before the entire congregation, but one senses he gains no relief from it.

And it is how the community administers forgiveness that plays a huge role in driving Miri away — from Abram, from the Amish way of life, and from her own family.

There are a number of poignant touches interspersed throughout the play, brief silent vignettes as each actor takes a moment in the spotlight to raise his or her hand in a slightly different way. Whether smiling or appearing confused or pained, they reflect gelassenheit, which translates as “yieldedness” or “submission.”

As Jacob tells Miri, “Bad things happen. They happen quite a lot. And surrender is not the only way to move on. But it is the way we know best.”

Each character must ultimately submit — whether by accepting the death of two sons, the community’s Ordnung, or how one is perceived by family and friends. And in so doing, they yield to the healing power of time, or come to the realization that they must ultimately choose how best to live.

All cast members deliver wonderfully nuanced performances, creating believable characters, each of whom undergoes a rite of passage through pain.

And yet, all end up in a world where everything is wonderful in the truest sense of that word — full of things that are unexpected, inexplicable, and leave one in awe.

Everything Is Wonderful runs at the Everyman, 315W. Fayette St., near the Hippodrome Theatre and historic Lexington Market, through Sunday, Feb. 24.

Tickets are $56 to $65. Those 62 and older may request a discount of $5 off tickets for Saturday matinees and Sunday evening performances. Call (410) 752-2208 or visit www.everymantheatre.org for ticket information.