In brief “The Guys” is about a fire captain who struggles to write eulogies for his men lost in the 9/11 attacks.

Actor Roger Briggs said it’s far larger than that.

“I worry that people will see the subject matter and think that it’s just another 9/11 play — but it’s more than that,” he said in a recent phone interview.

“It’s about dealing with loss and about leadership, how they followed orders and had a strong sense of leadership and community.”

“The Guys” will be performed May 5 and 6 at the Jewel Box Theatre in Poulsbo as a benefit for the Poulsbo Fire Department’s Community Action Fund.

It is a production of the Roundabout Theatre Arts of Kennwick and stars Roger Briggs as Nick, a New York fire captain, and Sharon Briggs as Anne Nelson, a writer who helps Nick write eulogies for the firefighters under his command who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

It is based on the real life experience of the play’s author, Anne Nelson.

Nelson has declined to identify the fire captain with whom she worked, at his request. She said about the process, and what she learned about firefighters, “A lot of the rhetoric about heroes and heroism has been very alienating for these men. In part, when something like this happens, they tear themselves up and say, ‘Well if we’re such heroes, why aren’t we dead along with the others?’ To that you say, ‘Look, you are valued for what you are and what you do every day. It’s not about how people died in the towers — it’s about the way you live.’”

Nelson wrote the play shortly after 9/11 and it debuted Dec. 4, 2001 at the off-off Broadway theater, The Flea. Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver played the original roles, and over the next year it featured a revolving cast of celebrities, including Tim Robbins and Swoozie Kurtz and Susan Sarandon and Anthony LaPaglia.

A Los Angeles version in 2002 featured Tim Robbins and Helen Hunt. Husband and wife Robbins and Sarandon took the play to Dublin for a limited run at the Abbey Theatre in Aug. 2002, and the play was made into a movie in 2002 starring Sarandon and LaPaglia.

“The Guys” is the first play Nelson wrote; her background is in journalism. As a reporter she covered wars in El Salvador and Guatemala, and focuses on international affairs and human rights. Since 1995 she has directed the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism’s international program.

Nelson also wrote the screenplay for the movie, which has taken the story to an international audience.

“People have started to talk about it as a metaphor for different kinds of grief and loss,” she writes. “The warmth, emotion and humor conveyed by the actors contributes to a healing process.”

The Briggs’ have performed “The Guys” previously as a benefit for the Richland, Wash. fire department.

“We feel the play has something to say, and if it can help a community organization, we’re more than interested in doing that,” Briggs said.

The Poulsbo Fire Department’s Community Action Fund helps people in the North Kitsap community who have lost everything due to fire. It provides emergency housing, replacement clothing and other immediate needs. All the proceeds from the two performances will go to the fund, with the Jewel Box donating the facilities and staff as well as providing posters and publicity.

Blue Sky Printing has donated ticket printing and the Poulsbo Inn is providing accommodations for the actors, free of charge. The Briggses are donating their time as well.

If both shows sell out the play would raise more than $5,000 for the fund.

“The Guys” will be performed for two nights only, 8 p.m. May 5 and 6 at The Jewel Box Theatre, 225 Iverson St., Poulsbo.

Tickets are $25 general admission, available from any member of the Poulsbo Fire Department and at the Department Headquarters, 911 NE Liberty Rd., Poulsbo.