While conducting interviews around the state for Perseverance Theatre's latest production, "8 Stars of Gold," co-playwrights Ryan Conarro and Maia Nolan found that although Alaskans may defy simple categorization, one word that definitely does not describe them is "dull."

"There are an infinite number of fascinating people in the state. Everyone is a character," Nolan said.

Though the play hinges on the central theme of Alaska statehood, as the title implies, in a broader sense it's also an in-depth look at the people who have chosen to call this huge, beautiful expanse of land their home.

"This play is definitely about the historic lives that led to statehood, but it's also about identity now - who we are, what does it mean to be an Alaskan," said Conarro, who is also the play's director.

The production opens tonight at the Old Elks Hall on Franklin Street.

Based on more than 50 first-person accounts, the play was conceived of as a way to celebrate both the 50th anniversary of Alaska and the 30th anniversary of Perseverance. Artistic Director Art Rotch and Associate Managing Director Merry Ellefson formulated the basic idea, drawing in part on the theater's very first production, "Pure Gold," which opened on Alaska's 20th anniversary, Jan. 3, 1979. Also an interview-based play, "Pure Gold" was directed by Molly Smith and explored the lives of Juneau pioneers.

Ellefson, dramaturge for "8 Stars," said that "Pure Gold" not only launched the theater, but also established Perseverance as a "theater of place." The fact that the pair eventually selected to write the script for "8 Stars" were both relatively new playwrights reinforced the idea that Alaska is a land of potential, she said.

"I love watching people create new work, and it also makes you realize that this is a place of opportunity in many ways," she said.

Though they had never met, Conarro, who lives in Juneau, and Nolan, who lives in Anchorage, soon realized they made a good team. Conarro has been in the state for seven years, and has extensive experience in theater as an actor and director. Nolan, a professional writer, is a life-long Alaskan whose family has lived in the state since 1951. Nolan's mother, an actor, makes an appearance as a character in the play, as does Nolan's grandmother.

Both writers gathered interviews from a wide range of people based on Ellefson's suggestions and an ever-widening network of new ideas. Conarro, who conducted the bulk of the interviews, was able to visit many small villages while working with the artist-in schools program with the Lower Kuskokwim School District.

"In the villages especially, I enjoyed finding people to talk to," he said.

The pair also interviewed famous figures from Alaska history, or in some cases their relatives, such as Clark Gruening, Ernest Gruening's grandson, as well as Vic Fischer and Wally Hickel. Both writers expressed gratitude for being given the chance to meet and talk with so many interesting people.

"Spending an hour and a half with Wally Hickel was really one of the highlights of my life to date," Nolan said.

The collected stories then had to be culled - a painful, slow process for both playwrights.

"The hardest part, actually, was that we had so much great material, and what is in the play is a tiny, tiny fraction of what we actually heard and learned in the course of doing the interviews," Nolan said, adding that even the interviews that were cut still resonate on some level in the script.

The play is structured with an outer framework, or "meta-play" as Conarro described it, which involves six researchers in 2009 who are trying to reach consensus about the focus and approach of a book on Alaska statehood. Within that larger framework are interspersed moments in Alaska history - some famous, some not. Each of the six actors - Charlie Cardwell, George Holly, Erin Tripp, Carolyn Garcia, Sally Smith and Flordelino Lagundino - plays one of the researchers as well as several historical roles.

Lagundino said at one point he portrays six characters in a five-minute span, including Steve, the newbie of the research group, President Eisenhower and Native Alaskan Michael Jimmy. Another actor, 19-year-old Tripp, plays Irene in the meta-play, as well as John Butrovich and a constitutional delegate.

In addition to juggling various characters, the actors had to adjust to countless iterations of the script, partly as a result of their own input.

"They all had their own perspectives to add in terms of presenting the story, so we got some great ideas from them," Nolan said.

Lagundino, a director and actor whose latest projects include directing both "Doubt" for Perseverance and "Shakespeare's R&J" for his own theater company, Thunder Mountain Theatre Project, said that such constant change is to be expected with a new work, especially one that is trying to honor so many different voices.

"With a script like this you kind of want that. It's nerve-wracking, certainly," he said.

For Conarro, who is both playwright and director, the temptation to rewrite scenes that didn't pan out on stage was a constant distraction. He was grateful for the advice of Molly Smith, who was in town this spring and attended a key rehearsal.

"She advised me at some point to pretend like I didn't know the playwrights (while I was directing) and just stop rewriting. It's been really helpful," he said.

He said the play could have gone in an infinite number of directions, and he had to accept that Juneau audiences will see merely one version. The end result is the product of many minds, many voices and many perspectives - individual, unique Alaskan voices, telling their stories, linked by a sense of being of this place.

"To me, there is just a different sense of belonging to this state, and what the word 'Alaskan' means," Conarro said. "I'm from Georgia, and 'Georgian' doesn't have anything iconic about it."

Nolan agreed.

"That's what people said in my interviews over and over, that they really identified themselves as Alaskan in a way that other people don't identify themselves with their state."

The play runs through April 19.