Elias Taylorson and Meridith Morton star in the adaptation of August Strindberg’s “Creditors” on stage at Broken Gears Project Theatre through March 3. (Daylon Walton/ Random Photography)

It’s as if the audience is there: a fly on the wall in one of the tensest situations that August Strindberg imagined.

“Creditors” is the story of a tangled love triangle in which all three members feel as if the other owes them a debt, and from the moment the play opens the desperation that penetrates the air implies that someone will pay.

Broken Gears Project Theatre took a new space in a small house in Oak Lawn this season, and has been very cleverly choosing shows that use their space effectively.

Their latest production of Steven Young’s adaptation of Strindberg’s 1889 show, seems to place the audience inside the fourth wall of the hotel room in which the uncomfortable events unfold between Tekla (Meridith Morton) and her first and second husbands.

When the play opens, Adolph (Evan Fuller), Tekla’s second husband, and Gustav (Elias Taylorson) have become friends over the course of several days and Adolph has confessed his insecurities about his wife, of which Gustav seems to be omniscient though he claims that he has never met Tekla. Whether Gustav is friend or foe is unclear and he incites anger in Adolph toward his wife that encourages him to confront her.

Director Rene Moreno has crafted a play with performances that capture the brutality of each character’s personal anguish weaving the play together in a way that doesn’t misplace a single pause or movement.

Morton is menacing as Tekla, yet her performance also captures a trembling delicacy that emerges when she finds herself in danger of physical violence.

Fuller’s sickly Adolph is the perfect prey for both Tekla and Gustav – capturing both the physical ailments and mental insecurities of his character.

And Taylorson as the third member of the small cast makes the transitions between friend, foe and at one point monster without losing the humanity of Gustav.

In a theater season that lost valuable rehearsal time due to the ice, which in turn caused companies to turn out shaky productions, Broken Gears has a show that is powerful and intimate.

“Creditors” runs through Thursday, with performances every night at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for most nights, but Tuesday will be the last occurrence of their Ten-Buck Tuesdays – when, you guessed it, tickets are only $10.

For more information, visit brokengearstheatre.com.