Playwright Charles Smith happened upon the story while watching his own plays. The new “is based on the true story of a young actor named Shedrick Yarkpai. Smith met Yarkpai when a theater company in Adelaide, Australia, produced two of Smith’s plays with Yarkpai in the lead.” Then, at lunch, the entire double-identity, maybe double-jeopardy plot revealed itself when Yarkpai talked about how he got to Australia. (2017 ironic twist: The actor couldn’t get a visa to come to Chicago to see the play about him.)