Part of the 3B Development Series, performances will continue through March 18.

The cast will feature J. Stephen Brantley (Mope at Ensemble Studio Theater; Murder in the First at 59E59) and Todd Flaherty (Sleep No More with Punchdrunk; Pirira with Theatre 167).

“Commanded by a mysterious patron, a beautiful young man (Todd Flaherty) enters a purgatory-like tattoo shop where an isolated and withdrawn artist (J. Stephen Brantley) forcibly inks the boy’s back over the course of several months,” according to press notes. “Both are prisoners, one stolen as a child and ascended to the heavens, the other cast out and fallen to earth. In this erotic tale of the struggle between comfortable corruption and the cost of true freedom, Bartlett’s modern-day Ganymede—rejected by family, community, and culture—subverts our oldest gay myth by fighting fate and choosing freedom.”

The production will have sound and lighting design by Jon Salutz and costume design by Audrey Nauman; the stage manager is Leah Montesinos.

Tickets, priced $25, may be purchased in advance at www.irttheater.org.